Darker by the Day
by Namek Kaia
Summary: Jak II. Keira becomes a completely different person after joining the Underground and with Torn to guide her, she becomes a force to be reckoned with. When she and Jak are reunited after two years, they must deal with the drastic changes. Ch 10 revamped!
1. Life After Gol and Maia

**Darker by the Day**

By JakAndTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: I own no rights to either _Jak and Daxer: The Precursor Legacy_ or _Jak II: Renegade_. I am merely an avid and obsessed fan.

Full Summary: After a harsh arrival in Haven City, Keira loses new friends in the destruction of Dead Town. Seeking revenge, she joins the newly-formed Underground and takes on a new persona. With a new, darker look and attitude, along with Torn's guidance, she becomes the Underground's lead soldier; all the while searching for her friends and completing side missions to fund her reconstruction of the Rift Rider. When she and Jak are reunited, they must cope with the changes in themselves as well as the changes in the one they love the most, and fight a war at the same time.

Begins in The Precursor Legacy and leads into Jak II and throughout. Follows the games for the most part, and has no major changes to storyline except for Keira.

* * *

Chapter I

_Life After Gol and Maia_

Keira Hagai, the daughter of the great Samos the Sage and mechanic extraordinaire, was for the first time in her life beside herself over what she should do. Her childhood friend, someone who quite possibly would turn out to be the love of her life, was fighting against Gol and Maia in their Precursor Robot that was easily one hundred times his size. Jak and his now-fuzzy best friend Daxter had the power of eco on their side, but Keira didn't know if it would be enough. The silo of dark eco was nearly open and she could see Jak in the distance, struggling to jump over their fire ring attacks while using yellow eco to destroy the robot's gun. He had gone so far and fought so hard to get here; collecting power cells and Precursor orbs, fighting off Lurker after Lurker at every turn, and slowly making his way through the dangers of the citadel to free the Sages. If only he could destroy this last gun, the power of the Sages would somehow save them and she and Jak could get back to a peaceful life at Sandover Village. _If only…_

Her complete focus was on the raging battle before her. She wasn't aware of the Sages beside her, the high altitude, the ledge she was so close to stepping over with the instinctive desire to go to him, or any of her other surroundings. There was nothing for her to lean on except her faith in Jak's ability to win this fight, and even that seemed to fade as Jak was hit twice in a row by the searing blaze of the fire rings. One more hit and it would be all over. She would lose everything she had ever known and have to live in a hellish world controlled by Gol and Maia and their abuse of dark eco. Her heart was pounding even as she held her breath. Jak was so close to destroying the robot's gun. _Just a little more…_

Relief washed through her as Jak avoided the last wave of fire rings and finally destroyed the gun. She would have screamed out in triumph had she not had to desperately catch her breath from holding it so long. Emotion welled up in her and tears sprang to her eyes in disbelief that he had actually done it. He had defeated the robot and now some Sagely power would save them all. The four rays of eco combined to form pools of a new type of eco, one that Keira had only heard of before today. _'That's not… that's light eco! Oh, thank the Precursors!"_ With the power of light eco, Keira knew that Jak could obliterate the robot and destroy Gol and Maia once and for all. Her adrenaline surged again as the robot deployed the hovering bombs in attempt to destroy Jak and his efforts before he could reach the light eco he needed to defeat them. _'Go, Jak…Go, go go… hurry!'_ She was sure her heart would explode in anticipation as he seemed to move in slow motion, leaping across the open silo to the pool of white eco. '_Please...'_

She longed to shut her eyes, to look away from the horrific scene in front of her, the outcome of which would decide the fate of the world. But she couldn't. Her eyes stayed defiantly open and she had no choice but to watch. And in the next second, she was glad she didn't miss a thing. It seemed to happen all at once and last for hours all in the same instant. Jak landed on the other side of the silo after nearly falling into the massive pool of dark eco and channeled the white eco through his body, making himself the ultimate weapon against the Precursor Robot and the villains controlling it. With a cry full of anger, relief, and triumph, Jak released an eco blast and demolished the robot just seconds before the hover bombs would have detonated. The head, which contained the evil twins Gol and Maia, fell into the deep pit of dark eco and the door to the silo slammed shut, never to be opened again. They had won. Everything was over. Everything was going to be fine. Everything was going to be normal again… for a while anyway. With Jak around, life never seemed to be normal.

Although Jak was now out of danger, she _still_ couldn't break her gaze from him. She watched him celebrate with his friend after hopping onto the Precursor platform that had floated to them. The strange surge of desire slammed through her suddenly as she watched his hips sway during a part of their victory dance. That image along with the confident smirk and stance he gave to finish off the dance was enough to make her knees go weak.

As they stepped off the platform, Keira vaguely heard her father commend the two heroes for their bravery and accomplishments. Now that everyone was starting to surround them, she needed to think about something, _anything_, but Jak. For once, Daxter was her solution, so half heartedly she said, "But Daxter, now we can't change you back." She was surprised at how concerned she sounded. Maybe she didn't think so badly of him after all.

"Don't worry about me, baby. You know what they say… big things come in small packages," Daxter replied. _'On second thought… he is just as bad as I thought he was.'_ Keira just rolled her eyes and brushed off the joke and possible come on.

Keira was startled at the sound of the Blue Sage's voice, having never heard it before and strangely not expecting him to speak up.

"Jak, you have an incredible talent for channeling eco! Samos, you may have been right about this one after all," he praised. Keira couldn't help but wonder what exactly that meant. She had never heard about her father boasting about Jak to anyone before today. Samos had always called him lazy and trouble making and incompetent even when he did exactly as he was told. Had the Blue Sage gotten his wires crossed or something?

Her thoughts were interrupted when the Red Sage was the next to speak, directing his praise at her. "And Keira, without your help and ingenuity, none of this would have been possible. Perhaps we've found another sage, now that Gol and Maia are lost," he ended on a solemn note. Keira, despite the comparison to the evil villains who had nearly destroyed the entire world and the person she cared about most, blushed at his compliments. Everyone turned to look out at the silo as Samos contemplated whether or not the dark eco had truly destroyed the two former friends. Her breath hitched as she felt someone grab her hand and pull her to the side.

Without words, Jak told her to be silent so as not to let the others know they were alone. Her heart was racing and her palms were sweating at finally being able to be this close to him. And what's more, she knew he wanted her there. When she looked at him, at the emotion in his eyes, she saw that he was just as nervous and confused as she was. With a squeeze to her hand and an intense look in his eyes, he tried to convey what he meant, what he felt for her, and what she hoped she felt for him. But without words, Keira couldn't fully understand the depth of his gesture. So he attempted a more drastic indication. He pulled her closer to him and leaned in only slightly. _That_ she understood. When he saw her leaning toward him in return, their eyes closed and sheer anticipation washed over them. She could feel his breath brush her lips and his arms tighten their hold on her in subconscious fear that she might back away. But she had no intention of moving an inch. Nothing could keep her from him now… nothing, that is, except for the furry hand that was now pushing her face away from Jak's.

"Whoa! Put it on ice, big guy!" came Daxter's smart remark as he held them away from each other. At first, all the couple could do was stare at him in disbelief. They had been in the moment, ready to share their feelings in one of the most romantic gesture they could manage. Emotions and thoughts ran wild between them, what with the adrenaline rush after saving the world and all, and the moment was simply perfect. But now it was ruined, possibly never to be regained, all because of Daxter.

Keira had always prided herself on her snappy wit, mechanical genius, and killer instincts in the most modest of ways. And right now, it took all the patience in the world for her to fight the instinct to smack the hell out of Daxter. After stealing glances at Jak for so many months, creating excuses to talk to him throughout this whole adventure, and be forced to watch him risk his life for everyone, she was finally given the chance to kiss her shy mute. And Daxter had ruined it for her. Amazingly, she settled for a fierce glare in his direction instead of strangling the air of his lungs.

As Daxter hopped back down to the ground and propped his weight against one of Jak's calves, Kiera's eyes went back to Jak. His eyes didn't meet her. In fact, he was avoiding eye contact at all possible costs, looking everywhere but at her with a slight blush gracing his cheeks. The bashful mute was back. The moment had truly vanished and she felt a strange pang in her heart; the same feeling you get when you watch a building crumble knowing there are people still inside. Except in this case, it was Keira's heart that crumbled, with her hope for romance trapped inside and doomed to perish.

Movement caught the corner of her eye and she gave on last look at Jak before sighing and following the Sages toward the large, mysterious Precursor entryway. Her mechanical mind immediately whirred to life as she began to examine the massive wonder, and instantly she was fascinated. Keira had always loved trying to unlock the mysteries of the Precursor artifacts, and it had quickly become a time-consuming hobby. Her eyes scanned over the design of the indentations in the door and counted them with inhuman speed and efficiency. She smirked slightly as the dots connected in her head almost immediately. As if reading her thoughts, her father exclaimed, "Holy yakow! What could that be?"

"It's an ancient Precursor door!" she replied, not able to contain her excitement. "It looks like it will only open if we fill all one hundred holes with power cells."

"Ah, we're heroes, remember? We _have_ one hundred power cells," Daxter said. Keira couldn't help but flinch as his smart reply seemed to grate against her nerves. Everyone jumped when the power cells from Jak's pack started to emerge and float to their destined position. For Keira, a lover of all things Precursor, it was like watching fireflies dance in the summertime. It was beautiful.

Samos only smiled. '_So the old grump was right after all…_'

When all of the power cells were in place, the seal of the door was broken with a loud, booming noise and bright light poured outward from inside to momentarily blind them from seeing what had been kept behind the door.

"Wow! What is it?" Daxter asked at seeing the strange-looking hunk of metal that seemed to be some sort of vehicle.

Dreamily, Keira marveled, "It's so beautiful…"

Samos recognized the machine, having used it to travel back here from Haven City with young Jak over 18 years ago. It looked the same as it did when he and the other sages stored it here. And despite his knowledge of its existence, the fact that it had basically maintained its condition still amazed him. "By the Precursors!" he said, tapping the floor with his staff in emphasis of his amazement. With a confirmed glance to his fellow friend, the Blue Sage, he began the explanation that they had all planned those many years ago. He only hoped his old age hadn't caused him to forget what he was supposed to say. With convincing emotion, he asked, "What is this amazing Precursor contraption? And don't touch anything, Daxter!" The ottsel had already outgrown his curiosity enough to want to see what the machine could do, and was reaching to touch one of the handrails.

Keira's curiosity was a different case. She was beyond excitement as she began to examine from afar the newfound machine that could quite possibly have come from the Precursors. Her usual quiet and informative side disappeared as she gave way to the little girl inside of her. Jak raised an eyebrow when she couldn't restrain her small squeal and ran her hand along the side of it. Her hand smoothed over the cold metal siding and across what seemed to be jet boosters in the back. It didn't look like any of the other Precursor artifacts she had found, so perhaps it wasn't made by the Precursors, but it did seem to be made for transportation. But by whom?

The Blue Sage stepped up to stand beside her as he seemed to consider the machine as well. "Hmm…" he contemplated. "Surely this cannot be. I have heard of such a thing but was sure that none existed."

"What?" came everyone's excited reply.

"This… is a Rift Rider. It's a device that can be used with _that_ Rift Ring," he paused, gesturing to the large Precursor ring on the far side of the room, "to travel to places only one can imagine. But I have not heard of anyone ever using one. No one knows for sure what might happen…" He stopped and notice that all eyes were on him as if they expected him to continue. "What… is there something on my face?"

Keira, bustling with anticipation, didn't bother to laugh before asking, "You know how this works? Can you show me? Can we still use it? Where did it come from? How do you know about it in the first place? And…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Miss Keira! Not all at once. I know very little about the machine myself, but I'm sure that with the proper positioning of the Ring and the Rider, it's possible that we could…"

"We must get this to my lab!" she exclaimed happily, clapping her hands in satisfaction. Everyone else just looked at her, dumfounded by her declaration.

"Whoa! Let me guess," Daxter broke in, "by _we_, you really mean _me and Jak_ must get this to the lab? Well let me tell you something missy, it ain't happenin'! We've had to fight Lurkers, travel across canyon after canyon of _hot lava_, and battle a frikkin' giant Precursor Robot! We're done for today." After his speech, the little ottsel puffed out his chest and crossed his arms in defiance. Jak nudged him with his foot, and Dax looked up to see Jak's assertive glare that reminded him of his earlier interruption, meaning that they owed Keira this favor. "Awww… Jak? Can't we start all this tomorrow?" he begged, but was only met by Jak's unmoving expression. "Aww, man."

Jak grunted as he lowered the last piece of the Rift Ring into the pile. Sweat dripped off him as he gave a sigh of relief that the task, and the day, was finally over. It turned out that the Blue Sage helped in the transportation of the Rift Rider, being the master of blue eco and all, but the Ring had to be broken down into pieces and moved by hand all the way to Keira's lab. He didn't think it would have been this much of a job, but those pieces, despite their lightweight look, were damned heavy. His muscles hurt like hell and his bed was looking awfully good right about now. He turned around to see Keira approaching him with a tray of red and yellow swirled drinks. He smiled, happy to see her and even happier to see the delicious juice she carried.

Keira returned his smile, saying, "I brought you some iced juice. I thought you might want some, and since I wasn't much help lifting…" She left the sentence unfinished and held out the tray for him to choose his glass.

Jak flashed her an even bigger smile before turning up a glass eagerly and quickly emptying its contents. The ice clinked against the bottom as he placed it back on the tray, giving a satisfied "Ah" at the refreshing chill that soothed his throat. He nodded a thanks at Keira.

"Was it good?" she asked, wanting him to appreciate her special twist in making the tropical fruit juice. He nodded several times with that same, adorable smile. "Well in that case, you can have as much as you want," she said, holding out the tray for him to take another glass. He complied and downed a second glass almost as fast as the first. With another nod, he started toward the bridge to his Uncle's house. "You're leaving… already?" she inquired timidly, putting down the tray of drinks on a nearby table in her lab. She hated sounding like a lovesick little girl, but she figured it couldn't hurt since he already had an idea of how she felt about him. If only he knew just how much…

He nodded in answer to her question and slowly started toward the bridge, but stopped. Keira stood still in anticipation, hoping against hope that he might turn back and keep her company… or something, anything so that he didn't have to leave. She watched as he carefully looked around him, as if looking for someone in particular. Suddenly, he spun on his heels and approached her in long strides. Her heart pounded in her chest at seeing the determined look in his strong, smooth features. "Jak?"

It seemed to all happen so fast. She released a squeak of surprise just before he closed the distance between their lips.

Despite his hard approach, the kiss was anything but. His lips held her softly, lingering, awaiting her reaction. But she couldn't react… she couldn't even move. The strange feel of his lips resting against hers shocked her so much that she didn't know what to do. Where were her hands supposed to go? How was she supposed to move her lips correctly? Was she supposed to lean into him? What was she supposed to do?

Jak's own heart pounded and his palms sweat, so nervous that she would reject him somehow or back away from him. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms, but he knew he should wait. Why wasn't she moving? Then finally, ever so slowly her hands slid up his arms and circled around his neck as she responded to his kiss. Their kiss was slow, innocent, searching. Their lips came together again and again in an inexperienced rhythm. Needless to say, her head was simply swimming with newfound emotion.

She thought that when they were on top of the citadel that she had lost her one and only chance with Jak. But now, to have seen him approach her with that look in his eyes and to feel his soft, wet lips against her own was… unbelievable. She had finally received what she had only dreamed of before. She sighed as he gathered her into his arms with the utmost care and deepened the kiss, exploring the depth of her mouth with his tongue somewhat sloppily. Keira, in turn explored his mouth carefully, not knowing what to expect. Jak was the first to break away breathlessly.

Keira looking in his eyes and knew. "You have to go, don't you?" And to her dismay, he nodded. "Alright… go ahead," she said as she slipped her hand into his. "Goodnight," she finished sweetly. He smiled at her and kissed her goodnight before making his way to his uncle's house for some well-earned sleep. Large, green eyes watched as his figure faded into the darkness of the twilight.

For Jak and Keira, the next month was filled with stolen kisses, shameless flirting, and hours upon hours of hard work, constructing the Rift Gate and Rider of course. Although one day when it was particularly sunny, they took a break to play net ball at Sentinel Beach with a few other townies. All sported swimwear, but Jak only noticed Keira's. She had worn a deep red two-piece much like the color of her wrist guards and boots that she usually wore, and it nicely contrasted with her greenish-blue hair while complimenting her slender figure. Jak's desire to be with Keira in more ways than one grew stronger every day, and that alluring suit had tempted both their fates that day. Keira had so far been able to set the boundaries on how far things could go, but things were going further and further each time they could sneak a kiss. Jak knew that he could wait forever for Keira to be ready, if that's what it took, but his urges were getting harder and harder to ignore. Perhaps he needed to concentrate on something other that Keira's body. Perhaps it was time to set his plan into action.

The morning after the net ball game, Keira woke to the dawn's sunlight shining in through her window and onto her face as always. She sat up and stretched, faintly remembering the lovely dream she had been having. Jak was involved, still in the blue swimming trunks he had been wearing that amazingly matched his eyes, as well as some exotic fruit, a waterfall, and a soft pallet of grass, but she couldn't quite remember everything.

Rubbing her eyes, she pushed back her covers and got out of bed. After changing into her usual clothes and eating a quick breakfast, she made her way to the lab, juice still in hand. The Rift Rider sat in the middle of the lab, and she smiled at its presence. She had spent the last few weeks, almost nonstop, taking the vehicle apart and learning how it worked as well as testing it to make sure it was still operational. Now the Rider had been reassembled and she was nearly done with her project. She couldn't wait for tomorrow, the day when they would finally get to see what the Rift Rider could do, and where it would take them. She was absolutely glowing with excitement.

Eager to get straight to work, she sat her juice down a side-tray that held all her frequently used tools and noticed a folded piece of paper that had not been there before. It stood on its edges so that it looked like a mini tent, and on the outside was her name written with delicate care. She looked around her lab and then down at the village to see who might have left the note, but found nothing besides the usual slow goings-on of the village below. Curiosity seized her, and she warily picked up the note and read:

_Keira, _

_Meet me a half hour before sunset in the village. I have a surprise for you. Dress to impress (you always do) and come hungry. See you tonight. _

_Jak_

A smile spread across her face at the thought of an evening with Jak. She wondered what exactly he was planning, and then she wondered what she would wear. However, before she could even think about tonight, she had to finish the last touches she would make to the Rift Rider for tomorrow's test run. _'What an exciting day this will be!'_ she thought to herself. If only Keira knew what that night had in store for her…

To Be Continued…

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Author's Note –

Well… that's the end. I had originally planned it as only a stopping point in the first chapter, but Jak's plans took a life of their own and sort of became their own chapter. And since it was taking so long to finish writing it, I decided to make two chapters out of this instead of just one – even though I really wanted to jump right into Haven City on the second chapter, but oh well. Hope it was enjoyable. Things are all happy-go-lucky right now, but it is called Darker by the Day for a reason. I should be updating soon since the second chapter is almost done already, but don't get used to it. I try to update quickly, but sometimes (er, most times) it just doesn't end up happening. Lol. Please review! - JATS


	2. Sunset, Starlight

**Darker by the Day**

By JakAndTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: I own no rights to either _Jak and Daxer: The Precursor Legacy_ or _Jak II: Renegade_. I am merely an avid and obsessed fan.

Music Inspiration: Ryan Cabrera – "True"

Chapter II

_Sunset, Starlight_

That evening, Jak paced back and forth in the main part of Sandover Village awaiting his date. It had taken a week to get everything ready for this night, and he wanted it all to be perfect. Everything _should_ go according to plan, but first his date had to show up on time, and the sun was only getting closer and closer to the horizon. He looked up the path to Kiera's lab once again. Lights were on, but the only sounds came from the wildlife and the ocean splashing against the cliff ahead.

"Don't worry Jak; women always take forever to get ready. She'll be here soon enough. She's probably still trying to decide what to wear. Typical woman… ," Daxter said from where he was sitting on Jak's deck. "Just relax!" The mute grunted at his companion and thrust his hands into his pockets, his right thumbing the bunched up cloth that he planned to give her when she arrived. His hands couldn't stay in his pockets long though, and he began to straighten his shirt and smooth his hand through his hair. "Relax, I said," Daxter started again. "You look fine… Spiffy duds," he added in a joking tone and gave a wink.

Jak's duds were indeed spiffy. He wore his same blue sleeveless tunic without his shoulder pack and wrist guards, along with white pants in place of his white shorts. The hem of his pants bunched around his sandals to give him a clean yet casual look. He had left his belt as well as his goggles behind for this special occasion. And while Jak might have been wearing less gear, the simple look made him appear strangely formal.

With all his pacing, Jak had nearly made a rut in the ground in his wake. Daxter noticed this and was about to make a witty remark when he saw out of the corner of his eye that the lights to Keira's lab had just been switched off. Though it wasn't needed, Daxter alerted Jak to the event. "Look! Here she comes… finally."

Jak's stomach was one huge knot as he waited for her to emerge from the darkness. And when she finally did, all other thoughts seemed to drift away. She was absolutely breathtaking.

Keira's appearance was also simple, yet she was still stunningly beautiful. Her aquamarine locks were swept up off of her neck in a messy-but-appealing up-do, accenting the angular shape of her face and her slender neckline. She still wore her violet choker, but was without her goggles or wrist guards. What Jak could not take his eyes off, however, was the dress that she wore. The dress, held by thin straps and brushing her knees as she walked, was such a color of green that her hair and eyes shone brighter than they ever had before. The neck was v-line and came to a point at her chest, much like her white halter top, and the waist flowed outward at her hips to give way to the wavy skirt. She also wore simple sandals, but Jak didn't really seem to notice them, his eyes fixed in appreciation on her form-fitting dress. He should have known that Keira would go all out when he asked her to dress nicely; she always did work everything to perfection. And this _was_ perfection.

She blushed slightly because of his obvious appreciation of her hard work. She had lost track of time in perfecting the Rift Rider and making last-minute checks, and was pressed for time to get ready before sunset. But she had made it in time, she hoped. She supposed she looked okay, since both Jak and Daxter had their mouths ajar. And no sooner had she seen Daxter's open-mouthed stare did he say, "Dang, Keira… lookin' good doll face!" His grin was as wide as his entire face.

Keira brushed off his comment and smiled at Jak, who immediately closed his mouth and tried to look normal. "Well, I'm not the only one," she replied. "You don't look so bad yourself, Jak. I like the new look."

He smiled, relieved and glad that she liked his choice of dress, and held out his hand for her to take, bowing and kissing her hand when she did. With a grin, he removed the black strip of cloth from his pocket and slowly pulled it over Keira's eyes so as not to startle her too much. A smile stretched her mouth and she bit her lip slightly as he tied the knot to the blindfold. "Oooh," she said when he had finished and had placed her hand on his arm for guidance, "I didn't know it was _this_ kind of surprise." She giggled, a sound that made Jak's heart go soaring, before attempting to sound serious. "Now Jak, if you trip me and make me ruin my dress, so help me I will have to seriously kick your butt." She couldn't help but smile.

"Try not to be out too late, Jak… if you know what I mean!" Daxter called as Jak began to lead her to their destination and made some rather vulgar gestures to emphasize his meaning. Jak made a slicing motion at his throat to tell Daxter to stop with his antics before Keira would catch on. But it was too late.

She didn't remove her blindfold, but pointed her accusing finger directly at Daxter and proclaimed, "I know he's doing something crude and or obnoxious, now what is it?"

Daxter only laughed and replied, "Oh, don't mind me. It was nothing really. Just some, uh… encouraging sign language and wishes of good luck. For the date, you know? Well, I'll be off now. Don't have too much fun!" And with that, he leapt off the deck in the direction of the yakow pen. Pestering those brainless animals would surely entertain him until he could find someone with a nice set of legs and a halter top. It had taken Daxter a while to accept the fact that his two best friends were growing closer to each other and father away from him, but with time and the realization that Jak was beginning to spend less time being with him and more time trying to find ways to be alone with Keira, he had accepted the inevitable. He was beginning to see the bright side out of all this; at least now he had more freedom to flirt with the girls using his "cute, furry animal" routine. Who ever said being fuzzy was all bad?

Keira only fumed all the more at Daxter's hasty getaway. Jak could see the feral expression on her face and she nearly reached up to remove her blindfold and go after the naughty ottsel, but Jak caught her hand and brought it to his mouth once again. He wasn't about to let even the slightest thing ruin this night for them. He made a shushing noise and with suave he didn't know he possessed, he cradled her neck and kissed her softly.

Kissing Jak was always amazing for Keira, but now with the blindfold heightening her senses, the soft breeze ruffling the dress around her knees, and the setting sun warming her face, it was inexplicably romantic. Jak released her lips and placed her hand back in his arm and led her to their left, toward Sentinel Beach. After a few clumsy stumbles in the sand and laughs the whole way, Keira could begin to hear the platform wheel churning in the distance. "Jak? Are we… at the beach?" she asked as they paused before the wheel. And while he couldn't answer her with words, she could swear that somewhere inside of her, she felt his smile. She could now smell the delicious scent of good food and her mouth began to water like a crocadog. Her ears twitched at the sound of the clunk of his feet atop the moving platform, and before she could protest, he had gently lifted her to his side.

A scream, of fright or anger she didn't know, rose up in her throat, but vanished as the blindfold fell from her eyes. The sight before her took her breath away.

As the platform lifted her higher, she saw a blanket placed at the edge of the bluff that was to the left of the platform wheel. Atop the blanket sat a covered platter and a bottle that was chilled by ice she knew had to have been fresh from the ice vender in Snowy Mountain. Her eyes took in the scene even as Jak helped her off the platform and carefully around the surrounding rocks, which she noticed held the many candles that had recently been lit. It was a sight of absolute perfection and serenity.

"Oh Jak…" she started, touched by his thoughtfulness and preparation, "this is all so… so… wonderful. Thank you." She smiled a smile that brightened her entire face before pecking him on the lips and sitting gracefully on the blanket. Jak helped her sit and then joined her on the blanket at her right. The grin on his face wouldn't seem to go away; he was so glad that she liked his surprise.

Keira inhaled deeply the smell of food and licked her lips. "So… what's to eat? I'm starving. I think I took your request to come hungry a little too far," she giggled and waited anxiously for him to uncover the large platter of food. Yet, instead of reaching for the dish cover, he retrieved two glasses from behind the pail of ice and filled them with the chilled liquid, a deep red substance with blue streaks and swirls. Keira gasped in awe when she saw it. "Jak… that's not… it can't be… Is that Tropics Juice!"

Jak only smiled back at her and handed her a glass. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get this stuff? Even the Mayor doesn't have those kind of connections!" she exclaimed. With a knowing smirk on his face and a casual shrug, Jak took his own glass and raised it to toast. Their glasses clinked in "cheers" and they slowly sipped their juice. Keira pressed her lips together to savor the taste and smiled in thanks to her hero. "It's just as sweet and smooth as everyone says it is," she mentioned and Jak nodded accordingly. After another sip, Jak took both their glasses and placed them on the blanket before reaching for the dish cover. He looked at her expectantly and she nodded her head, anxious to see what he had planned for her. Teasingly, he raised his eyebrows as if to say "Are you sure?"

"Oh come on, Jak! I'm starving," she cried. Jak complied and lifted the lid from the platter to reveal an extravagant display of delicious-looking food; seafood to be exact. Shrimp lined the outside of the plate, surrounding a beautifully-colored sea shell that had been split in two and filled with a mixture made up of lobster, crab, and various fish topped with select spices. The entire dish was served with a delectable red sauce that had been drizzled over it in a zigzag pattern. It was all absolutely amazing… and it was all because of him. Jak. Her own hero. It wasn't like he had made everything from scratch and set it up himself. But he had planned it all, wanting to do something nice for her, and that touched her heart deeply and beyond words. She thought of the food, the drinks, the candles, the secluded spot, the awesome scenery, and the ever-present smile on his face. It was all so incredible. She didn't know what to say.

Keira hadn't said anything, but her expression was sufficient enough for Jak. So far, everything had gone smoothly for him; all his arrangements had gone perfectly. He couldn't have been happier at this moment, and he couldn't help but be proud of his effort and success. Keira had the amazing ability to make him feel… different. And to give her this special night, to be here with her, as the sun was setting, the candles and sunset brightening her face, was heaven for him. He was absolutely overjoyed. It was in this moment that he realized that all these feelings rushing his senses, the way he felt about Keira, could only be love. _He loved Keira_.

The smell of delicious food attempted to bring Keira from her thoughts, but she staved off her hunger for just a bit longer and looked at Jak. "This is all so incredible, Jak. _You_ are incredible, to me." The butterflies began to flutter furiously in her stomach as she finally realized something that should have been so obvious to her before now. "I love you," she added quietly, but managed to hold his gaze. Before she could blink, Jak had quickly gathered her face in both his hands and kissed her in the most eager yet loving manner.

As their kiss ended, Keira said, "So… is it time to eat yet?" and as if on cue, her stomach let out a starving growl. She meant the comment to be a joking change of subject, but the Precursors and her appetite had obviously made other plans, and her cheeks heated in humiliation. Thinking nothing of Keira's embarrassment or the blush in her cheeks, Jak reached for the only fork and scooped out a bite of the seafood mixture. Her slight irritation quickly changed to surprise when he held the fork to her mouth to eat instead of taking a bite himself. The notion of him feeding her seemed precious and sensual at the same time. Slowly, she took the food from the fork and began to chew, and a groan of pleasure soon escaped her throat. The food was absolutely divine. Without exaggeration, she could have described it as so good that it almost hurt her mouth to chew it. This was without question the most perfect night of her life.

Day turned into night as they ate, watching the sun descend into the horizon. The stars now brightened the sky as the lanterns and candles only burned lower and lower. Keira sat in between Jak's legs, her back against his chest, and he had a blanket wrapped around the both of them. Their eyes were fixed on the vast night sky above, content with a comfortable silence; a silence that would soon have to be broken.

A star streaked across the sky and he expected her to jump up and become excited about the rare occasion as she always had. Instead, she just calmly said, "Jak, did you see it?" He could hear the smile in her voice, and hummed an affirmative in response and hugged her closer with the increasing chill of the night. "Every time I see a shooting star, it reminds me of something my father told me long ago. 'There's a superstition,' he said, 'that when a star falls something very important is going to happen and that you wish upon the star in hopes that the event will end in good fortune. But you should always beware when a star falls at sunset. Something terrible always happens if a star falls at sunset.' I…" She trailed off with a small sigh and a long silence ensued. Jak could tell she was struggling with trying to say what she wanted to say, and he held her patiently waiting, fearing that something was troubling his Keira. Dread and uncertainty festered and made an ache deep in her stomach.

"Jak… I'm so scared," she confessed as she shifted and leaned her head back onto his shoulder. If he had the ability to use words, none would have come to him at that moment. He and Keira had shared many special moments. They talked, or rather, she talked with him about many things; things she loved, things she hated, and a lot of things that had to do with other people that she knew. But never once had it gotten this personal. Never once had she confided in him for anything. He didn't know at all how to react. "Ever since my father told me that, for whatever reason, it seems like something bad always happens after I see a shooting star. It may just be in my mind, but with the launch tomorrow, I can't help but think that… that it's all going to go horribly wrong. Maybe we should just let well enough alone and forget about tomorrow."

He wanted to reassure her with words, tell her she was crazy for throwing all her hard work away, tell her she was a genius, and tell her everything was going to be just fine. But that one small catch in his psyche wouldn't allow him and the words he struggled so hard to release were trapped inside him. All his life he had been able to communicate efficiently without words, and now he never wished harder that he could speak to Keira. Fighting down the frustration that rose up in him, he replied with a discouraging grunt and wrapped one arm around her waist to bring her closer to him. Perhaps if he could give her comfort, her mind would ease. He didn't exactly understand why she was so hung up on such a superstition, but realized at the same time, it wasn't all about the superstition itself. The shooting star was only a scapegoat for her deep-ridden fears.

It was somewhat of a relief to him when she chuckled and said, "You think I'm being silly. I guess I am. It's just… I don't know how I'd be able to deal with the guilt if something wrong happened tomorrow." With a shrug, she added, "But you never know. Maybe something extremely good will happen. Who knows what we'll find?" Her bubbly, positive attitude returned and she smiled that radiant smile at him again. _This _was his Keira. Not only glad to have the same Keira back, but also touched that she trusted him to the degree that she could share what would otherwise have been left unsaid, he kissed the hair just above her ear and brought the blanket closer around them. He inhaled the scent of her hair mixed with the breezy scent of the ocean, and it was absolutely intoxicating. Without thought, his lips moved lower and behind her ear, beginning to trail kisses down her soft neck. "Jak…" she breathed, but he didn't seem to hear, or took it for encouragement. Her head instinctively tilted back and away to open her neck to him, and immediately she cursed herself for it. As he mouth traveled back up to her jaw, the ocean breeze caught the wetness on her skin and made her chill.

His mouth finally met hers and all her protest dissolved only to return as he broke away. In a voice so throaty that she no longer sounded as herself, she simply said, "I can't do this. Please take me home." She deliberately avoided his gaze, knowing all too well the look of disappointment on his face. Slowly, she stood and gathered her half of the shell that they had decided to keep as a memento. Jak surprised her as he wrapped the blanket around her from behind and kissed her cheek before he gathered up the rest of the dirty dishes and leftovers in a basket and blew out the low candles over the rocks. Keira watched him and noticed that he was actually very calm where she would expect him to be frustrated or irritated. As if she hadn't blatantly rejected him, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her the short distance home. The silence was slightly awkward for Jak, but Keira only smiled the entire way back to her lab.

Upon arrival, Keira flicked on the light in her lab and squinted at its brightness. She turned to Jak, as if to bid him goodnight and said, "Jak, I can't thank you enough for giving me such a perfect evening. No one has ever done something so special for me." She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you for being so wonderful to me." He kissed the top of her head and held her in his embrace. They stood there for a while in each others arms, swaying side to side to the music of Sandover's glorious nature. "Will you stay with me tonight?" she suddenly asked and he nearly gasped. He looked at her with great uncertainty and glanced at her ceiling in worry. "Don't worry," she answered his unspoken question, "Daddy won't be back until tomorrow morning. He and the Blue Sage had some things to discuss and knowing him, he'll be out so late that he'll need to stay in Rock Village. Please, Jak. No conditions, no rules… just me and you… just this once."

Daxter had awakened from his hammock in Jak's room to the sound of footsteps passing. Throwing the covers off of him and being as quite as he possible could, he stepped to the doorway to watch them walk together to her laboratory. When Jak had stayed out later than usual, Daxter knew that the date had gone well, but that hadn't stopped his curiosity and the need to see so for himself. He watched the couple as they embraced just inside her lab and realized in that moment how perfect for each other they really were. This in no way meant that his fun keeping them apart would end. Not with his kind of determination. Amused at himself, he chuckled and kept his eyes on his friends. Their embrace broke and Keira took Jak's hand, and then they disappeared into the darkness as the light was flicked off. Daxter smirked and returned to Jak's room, this time curling up in his best friend's bed and taking advantage of the extra warmth. And why shouldn't he? It wasn't like Jak was going to be needing it.

To be continued…

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- Author's Note –

Well… that's it! What'd you think? Hope it wasn't too mushy, but I'm going for that stark contrast between Sandover and Haven. The rest should be pretty dark if it comes out like I want it. Please read and review:D Sorry about the unreasonably long time it took me to update a chapter that was nearly finished when I posted the first chapter. I lose motivation from time to time, and last week was one of those times. Hope you all enjoyed it! - JATS

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- Review Responses –

Kat: Thanks! I try to make everything I write pretty original, and the fact that you noticed that from just the first chapter really means something to me.

Red Mage 04: Well I hope you like all the detail because I'm one of those writers where everything has to fit perfectly, and that includes the details. Some writers just give you a basic idea of what's going on and I think it's important to try to make the reader actually see what's going on, so I give as much detail as possible. Please let me know if I ever go into too much detail.

Sull89: Glad to think someone thinks it's cool! Hope I didn't scare you away with how long it took me to update. I try… I really do, but sometimes it just doesn't happen.

Gohan11: Again, hope you don't think it took me too long to update. And I hope you liked the second chapter.

Jes: Great! I hope that I don't disappoint you in future chapters. Hope you keep reading.

Shadows-of-flame: Oh my gosh! Big fan of your writing. Thanks so much for reviewing:D I like JK too, and I hope my recent obsession with TK doesn't bring it down. Love your TK stuff, by the way.

Light-Eco-Sage: I hope you liked Jak's plans. Sorry if it was a bit corny. Hope you keep reading and reviewing!

Rockergurl13: Hope you enjoyed the last chapter and thanks for reviewing!

Odoru: Wow! Thanks for the compliments. I pride myself on trying to bring the thoughts of the characters to the readers since we're given so little insight to that during the game. Glad it's paid off and someone noticed:D

All: A big thanks to all those that stopped and reviewed! I'm open to suggestions and criticism if you have any. You guys are great! v


	3. Lost

**Darker by the Day**

By JakAndTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: I own no rights to _Jak II_ or its characters. I am merely an avid and obsessed fan using them for my own personal amusement.

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Chapter III

_Lost_

Keira's eyes fluttered open, only to be blinded by the piercing white light that made them feel as if they had been stabbed with shards of glass. Wisely keeping her eyes closed, she gave a half groan, half whimper and tried to raise herself into a sitting position using her right arm. Again she was brought down in defeat as every muscle seemed to shriek with protest in unison. Even as her head rested on the pillow, she head spun with dizziness and her stomach lurched with nausea. But all of it was nothing compared to when her left arm had reached to try to sooth her aching stomach. Pain like she had never felt before shot through her entire arm and made her cry out in torment. Without moving, she tried as best she could to curl up into a ball and couldn't help but sob out her anguish. Why was her body betraying her like this? What had happened? Why did it have to hurt _this much_?

Seconds later, she felt a soothing hand run over her forehead and yell something she couldn't understand, though the voice didn't seem to be yelling at her. The voice seemed feminine, but in her current state Keira couldn't tell, nor did she care. She just wanted everything to stop. Where was Jak when you needed him? That thought lingered in her mind for a bit before, despite her excruciating pain, her eyes flew open and she sat straight up, startling her present company.

_Jak. Daddy. The Rift. All those monsters. The crash. _The entire morning's events all came back to her in a flood of flashing memories. She remembered going into the Rift and something going wrong, but she didn't remember coming out of the Rift or anything else that had happened after that. With her shock overwhelming her pain, she took a moment to analyze her surroundings. She was on a bed in a strange room she had never seen before. In the background, she heard a deep baritone yelling at some unseen person. She wasn't really paying very much attention, but with a voice like his, one could hardly help overhearing. "You _will_ deliver that shipment of green eco here or, so help me, I'll have the Commander of the Krimzon Guard after your ass!... Of course we need it now! This is an urgent matter!... I don't care if your company doesn't deliver to our area, you prejudiced bastard. You'll get my package here pronto or you're going to be eating out of a tube!" She cringed when the man slammed down the phone. She was almost glad when he walked deeper into another room instead of coming into hers.

Her attention turned to the woman sitting beside her on the bed. The first thing Keira noticed was her beautiful long brown hair, and then her startling violet eyes. She was perfectly slender and wore a simple blue shirt with black pants. From the look in her eyes, Keira could tell that the woman was worried, but she tried to be soothing as she smiled. The way the woman shushed her and tried to get her to lie back down made her think of a mother, and for a second, Keira wondered if she had a child of her own.

All of her thoughts stopped when a tall, muscled man strode into the doorway and leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. He had to be the tallest man she had ever seen, his spiky, blonde hair almost brushing the top of the door. Eyes that were the iciest color of blue burned into her, and she couldn't tell if he was concerned or just malicious. His muscles bulged from under his blue shirt and his black pants showed several rips and tears, but it was his expression that made him look intimidating. It was either his expression or the large scar he bared along the left side of his face. Keira didn't really dwell on which it was. She was suddenly too scared out of her mind to think.

Vainly, she tried to back away from the scary man at the door, her eyes frantically moving from him to the soft-natured woman at her side that was trying to keep her from hurting herself. She struggled against the woman's efforts all the time shouting, "What is this place? Who are you people? What have you done with Jak! Where is he! Do you have my father, too?" The woman shushed her and tried to get her to lie back, but Keira refused to stop her struggling. Her head was spinning, and her entire body hurt like hell, but if these people were going to kill her or hold her hostage, she'd take her chances with the pain.

Finally, the gentle woman turned to look over her shoulder at the fearsome man. "Brice! Stop it. You're scaring her. She's not going to hurt us, now come here and help me… and stop looking at her like that!" Immediately, Keira could see Brice's face soften as he uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off of the doorframe. Wary eyes followed his movement until he kneeled on the other side of her bed.

"Calm down, little one. You'll reopen your wounds if you don't relax. Terri, she'll need something to drink. Could you go get a glass of water," he asked. His voice, despite his appearance, was a deep, smooth baritone that had a softness to it.

The full weight of what he had said didn't hit her until she finally looked down at herself. Her left arm was in a makeshift sling with a bandage wrapped tightly around most of her forearm. The other arm didn't hurt as much, but was still bandaged from the elbow up. Her stomach fashioned various patches of bandage and from underneath the tangle she had made of the blanket, she could see her right leg was in a splint. As if already knowing where it was, her gaze fell on the far wall to the mirror that hung there. She didn't recognize her own reflection. Her hair was matted in places where you could see it, the rest hidden by the dressing wrapped around her head, and her face had scrapes and bruises on it.

She looked… absolutely horrible.

Terri returned with the glass of cold water and, at Keira's horrid expression, she began to explain, her soft eyes full of worry for this girl she didn't really know. "You fell straight through the ceiling of our kitchen. We dressed your wounds as best we could, but we didn't know if you'd make it. You've been out for almost a week."

Keira's eyes widened. "A week! What date is it?"

Brice eyed her strangely, as if she should have known. "It's the twenty-third day of the fourth month."

That sounded right enough. "Where am I? What is this place?" she repeated.

"You're in the glorious High Slums," Brice said sarcastically.

"What part of Haven are you from, dear?" Terri, reclaiming a place at her side, asked.

"Haven?" Her eyes, full of confusion, darted from one face to the next.

"Haven City. You really aren't from around here, are you?" the woman asked sweetly.

"I'm from Sandover Village," Keira proclaimed, as if it were the most well-known place in the world.

To her surprise, they both just looked at each other and laughed. "Oh my goodness," the brunette started, still laughing. "You must have hit your head pretty hard. Sandover Village hasn't existed for, how long dear?" she asked Brice.

"I don't know, Terri. About five hundred years?"

Terri's soft brown eyes rested on Keira with a wealth of sympathy. "Don't worry. We finally managed a rare shipment of green eco, and it'll have you healed and on your feet in no time. It should be on its way now, but you never know with people today. Not many companies deliver to this area."

The question of _Why not?_ should have come to mind, but right now Keira's mind was in a whirlwind of astonishment. _About five hundred years_… Her friends, the people she knew, all of them were… gone. Five hundred years gone. And now she was in a place she didn't know, full of people she didn't know. There was no real way of telling if her father, Jak, and Daxter were even in this same place. They had been jerked in different directions while in the rift. They could be in a different time, in a different place. She was alone… all alone.

"Here you go, honey," Terri said with a light touch to her shoulder, "have a drink of water." The faraway look in Keira's eyes settled on the glass of water and managed to focus. She didn't realize how dry her mouth was until then. With a shaky hand, and being careful to use her right arm, Keira took the glass and drank half the water in two gulps, took a breath, and downed the rest of the water. Silently, she held the glass out for Terri to take.

Brice, who hadn't moved more than an inch since he reached the side of her bed, jumped to his feet when two loud bangs sounded at the door. "That's the eco… finally," he grumbled and was out of the room in no more than three strides of his long legs.

As the raised voices started, Terri turned to Keira. "It's as we suspected. It was hard enough for us to get our hands on the green eco. It would have been even harder to request it be in its diluted form so it could be made into a solution or a pill. I'm afraid that you're going to have to absorb the eco in its pure form. We could inject it or…"

Keira held up her good hand in interruption. "It's okay. I can absorb it just fine. I would appreciate it if you could just bring it to me." She forced a smile that she didn't really mean. If she were able, she'd jump up from the bed and straight for the eco… anything to relieve the excruciating pain that seem to feel worse and worse by the second.

Giving her a strange look, Terri stopped Brice as the door shut suddenly and he made his way down the hall. "Brice, honey. She says she can absorb it pure."

Brice turned on his heel and appeared in the doorway with an astonished look on his face. "She can do what?"

"She says to give her the eco," Terri answered.

Keira felt uncomfortable with both their gazes on her so intently, but she tried to keep her focus on the eco, on being healed. "Thank you both for going to so much trouble over me, especially when I've done nothing to deserve it."

"Forget it," Brice responded simply, crossing the room with the spherical container of eco. "You're sure about this?"

With great effort, Keira nodded. "Could you open it for me?" she asked without taking her eyes from the metal container. Easily, Brice twisted the two hemispheres of the container so the green substance could be seen through the rectangular vents that had been opened. She inhaled deeply, holding her breath for the pain she expected to follow, and lifted her arm to the container.

Brice and Terri were amazed when the green eco seemed to pour from the container to her outstretched hand. The eco absorbed itself straight into her skin, and until all the eco was gone, her small form was engulfed in a soft green aura. Her skin flushed with its normal color again, and the cuts and scrapes too small to be dignified with bandages healed and vanished as if they had never been. Keira felt energy rush through her, the eco channeling expertly through her body to heal bones and tissue from the inside out. Deep wounds were closed and scars faded as newer skin was quickly developed. When the process was finished and the eco had done all it was able to do in healing her, the green aura was also absorbed into her refreshingly stronger body.

For a second, Keira just stared down at her hands, reveling in a feeling from home, the feeling of green eco surging through her. Her muscles were still sore from not being used in a week, but even the slight protest of her movement felt pleasant in comparison to the pain of her injuries. She flexed her hands, moved her arms this way and that, and then stretched with her arms reaching above her. She felt refreshed, momentarily forgetting the loss of her dearest friends.

"How… how did you do that?" Brice asked.

For the first time, she looked up at him with a bright smile, a real smile. The beauty and innocence of it almost caught him off guard. "Do what?" she asked.

"That. Absorb the eco," he replied more sternly.

"Oh. I've always been able to do that. Why? Can you not absorb eco?"

"Well of course not. The only other person that can do that is…"

"Do you think that he'll want to meet her!" Terri interrupted excitedly.

"Who?" Keira asked.

"He might. But he won't be back from his trip from Spargus for quite some time," Brice explained.

Keira was distracted by a waft of an extremely offensive odor. Her nose twitched and she sniffed to her left and right before realizing that the smell was coming from her. "Eww! Is that me!" she exclaimed and pulled a section of her hair into her face to smell it. Terri had been in mid-sentence when Keira had interrupted her, and now both her and Brice were looking at Keira. Her face twisted in a grotesque expression. "Ugh, gross. That _is_ me. Could I possibly grab a bath or something? I reek."

Terri jumped back into her motherly mode. "Oh! I'm so sorry. Why didn't I think about this before? Of course you would want a bath!" She started to free Keira from the tangle of sheets she had made in her confusion. "Brice, go start the hot water in the bath, would you?" she ordered and then turned back to Keira. "I'll help you to the washroom and help you out of those awful bandages."

* * *

Keira sighed as she sank down into the steaming water that immediately began soothing her aching muscles. "Thank you… for everything. I really do appreciate it." 

"It's no problem," Terri replied as she started from the bathroom. "It was the least we could do. We're just glad that you're okay now." She stopped in the doorway and turned back. "By the way… what's your name?"

Keira inhaled another long breath and let the sweet aromas of the bath salts calm her. "My name is Keira."

"Well… we were way off."

"What do you mean," Keira asked.

"We didn't know your name. So we've been calling you Jade."

"Hmmm… Jade." Keira turned the name over in her mind for a moment, then smiled. "I like it."

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- Author's Note – 

So sorry that this chapter took so long. I told you not to get used to the frequent updates! Lol. Maybe this next chapter won't take so long, but I'm not promising anything. I hope you liked the original characters that I incorporated into this chapter. Tell me your opinions! I'm taking a shot at what it was like for Keira starting out in Haven, since we never know that. I thought it'd be interesting if she weren't as lucky as Jak and Daxter in their landing. Hope I didn't go too off-scale with all this. Let me know what you think. And thanks for reading!

Oh, and I left a lot of things a little vague in this chapter. Can you tell the area where she landed? And who is the other person that can channel green eco?

Until next time! - JATS

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- Review Responses - 

Red Mage 04: Glad you thought my little romance scene was sweet. I wanted a stark contrast for the darker setting that they'll meet in later, and that way, the changes in their relationship will be more obvious. Thanks for reading. Make sure you let me know if my detail starts to weaken. ;)

Light-Eco-Sage: Thank goodness it wasn't too mushy. I'm a hopeless romantic, and I tend to just pour mush into stuff like this. :D Glad you liked Jak's romantic side.

shadows-of-flame: Yay! I'm not the only one who likes T/K. :D Thanks for noticing my shot at humor. I try to do little things like that, especially when Dax is around, but no one says anything about it. I just thought people didn't think it was funny or something. Again, thanks!

odoru: It's not too dark yet, but it'll get that way, especially with the next chapter. I added more dialogue to this chapter, so I hope that agreed with you. This was more or less a filler chapter as far as dialogue and everything. I just wanted to get across that Keira had a rough start instead of a clean landing like Jak and Dax did. Just the first step in affirming her tougher side. ;)

Sull89: Hope this was enough going-ons for one chapter. Not a lot happened, but hopefully you're not disappointed. I tried to put more stuff in it, but I liked ending it where I did. Thanks for reading!

SANDSOFTIMEIII: Nice to see someone from the Playstation boards actually reviewing. Thanks a bunch for reading. Hope you liked this chapter as well. And I'm glad you think that I tried to keep the original part believable. I really tried. :D

Cass: Thanks for reviewing! I'm really glad you liked it. I hope I kept up with expectations. I've never received such high praise from a reader as I have from you. You really did make me get off my ass and try to finish this. Thanks a bunch for the motivation! See you on the boards.


	4. Torn Asunder

**Darker by the Day**

By JakandTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: Only in my greatest fantasies do I own any part of the Jak and Daxter franchise.

Chapter Four

_Torn Asunder_

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"Keira!" Brice called as the door shut behind him. His voice boomed throughout their small home, and if one didn't know him, as Keira did, one might think he was in a perpetually horrible mood. 

"I'm in the kitchen!" she answered.

He grumbled to no one but himself and shook his head, starting in her direction after putting his coat and tool bag in the hall closet. "You're always in the kitchen. You really don't need to spend night and day in there trying to fix that hole in the ceiling. I can…"

Brice stopped short as he stepped into the kitchen to see Keira stepping off the A-ladder, wiping the dirt off her hands with a dingy rag. She had on a pair of Terri's old overalls and a bandana tied around her head to keep her bangs - and her sweat - out of her eyes. If not for her green hair, he would swear that Keira was the daughter that he and Terri were never able to have.

But that's not what caused the sudden drifting of his words. To his utter surprise, the gaping hole in their ceiling was completely fixed, and turned into a skylight no less.

"What do you think? I didn't have enough concrete mix to finish the entire ceiling, so I thought a little more light in here would be the perfect way to go… and the easiest. Terri hasn't seen it yet, but I think she was excited about the new window."

"She'll love it," he said simply, still a bit in awe. Terri had always complained about the lack of light, and without knowing it, Keira had granted his wife's not-so-silent wish.

"I'll love what?" came a voice from behind him. A familiar pang sounded in his heart that sent his spirits lifting at hearing the soft sound of her voice, and as he turned to face her, he was satisfied to see her face light up. In her joy, Terri almost dropped the two grocery bags she held against her chest.

Taking the bags from her, Brice half-smiled, half-groaned as Terri gushed over Keira's handiwork.

"You finished it already! Oh, it looks wonderful. It's what I've always wanted," she praised. Without hesitation, she pulled Keira into a firm hug, and Keira wrapped her arms around the older woman in return.

The first time that Terri had hugged her, Keira had been taken so aback with emotion that she had allowed herself to break down and cry. After having her father and best friends ripped away from her, these kind people had taken her in, given her food, and treated her like she belonged. And the way Terri hugged her with such care that first night before she had gone to bed, Keira felt as if she had finally found some semblance of a mother. The gesture touched Keira's heart in such a way that at first, she was merely shocked, and then a wave of overpowering emotions took her so that all she could do was cry. Terri, with the knowledge of an experienced mother, sat and soothed her until Keira had fallen asleep.

"You've really outdone yourself, Keira. I never expected you to have done so much after only a week," Terri said as she left Keira's side to peer up at the window from every possible angle.

"Well, it was my hard head that destroyed your ceiling in the first place. I wouldn't have felt right if I didn't fix it as soon as I could. So you really like it?" she asked.

"Oh, I absolutely adore it," Terri gushed. "This calls for a celebration!" she exclaimed after a moment of thought and clapped her hands together. "Tonight we'll have a feast of a dinner. My specialty!"

Brice heaved a heavy sigh. "Oh, almighty Precursors, please not…"

"Roast Beef Deluxe! With all the fixings too. I'll have to go to the bizarre district and pick up a few things, but…"

"I'll go," Keira offered. "I mean, give me a minute to clean up, and I'll gladly go. I've barely left this house, much less seen any of the city. If you've got a map handy, I'll find my way without a problem."

"I'm not sure…" Brice started.

"What a wonderful idea!" Terri interrupted. "This way I can get started right away! You sure that you don't mind going, Keira?"

Keira made a casual gesture of disregard with a wave of her hand. "It's no problem at all. It'll give me a chance to look for some sort of job while I'm out."

Terri's face fell for the first time since she had stepped into the house. "What do you mean? Are you going to be leaving so soon?"

"No, no. That's not it at all," Keira assured. "It's just that I want to help out more. You've both been so kind to me since the accident, and I don't know any other way to repay you."

Terri wanted to say that she had already done more than enough for them by bringing company in a household that had been empty for far too long and light to an increasingly dark situation, but Brice held up his hand to silence her before she could speak.

"I think that if you're able to find a decent job, then you should take it. But be warned that few women in Haven hold jobs outside of bars and other, less reputable establishments," he said.

"Brice!" Terri admonished, obviously astounded by his frankness.

"Terri, she needs to understand the reality of our situation; the situation of all Haven citizens. I don't want her to be disappointed."

"It's not her being disappointed that I'm worried about. The KG have their hands in everything, and you know how corrupt they've been since the Baron took over. If she manages to find work, the KG… well, I don't want to imagine what they might do. It's bad enough that Torn…"

Terri was interrupted when Keira stepped back into the kitchen, purposely making noise to break up the to-and-fro that had been going on between husband and wife. Neither of them had realized that she'd gone in the first place. In the short time she had gone, she had cleaned herself up and changed into her normal, recently repaired attire.

"I found a map," she announced and stuffed it into her pocket. "Listen, you both don't have to worry about me. I've been up against worse things than the Krimson Guard; like vicious monsters and eco junkies bent on world domination. A few goons in red suits of armor are nothing by comparison," she assured them, and tried to assure herself at the same time.

In truth, all their awful stories about what the Krimson Guard were capable of scared the pants off her.

"Just be careful, Keira," Terri said in her always-motherly way, handing her the recipe card that listed all the ingredients.

"I will. Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it," she replied and started for the door.

"Keira," Brice said as the doors slid open for Keira's exit. "Haven is different inside the walls. Don't let anyone, especially the KG know that you're from the outside."

She nodded, trying to hide her anxiety and excitement about venturing out into the new place. "Got it."

"Hurry back, dear!" Terri called from the kitchen.

Hoping for no further interruptions, Keira slipped out of the house she now called home and headed for the zoomer garage to borrow transportation.

* * *

Kiera drove back toward the Slums with an overall feeling of relief. The city within the walls wasn't as bad as she had thought. All the horrible stories she had heard painted a picture of a city in ruins, with people in rags and huddling around fires for warmth. That wasn't the case at all. 

The Slums did look pretty run down, almost what she imagined the whole city to be like, but still not quite as bad. She drove a very short distance through the Industrial section, and was absolutely astonished at all the catwalks and metal buildings. It looked like a maze, and it excited her all the more that there was such detail and function to the whole environment. She decided she would have to go exploring on a day when she didn't have errands to run. She absolutely couldn't wait.

She turned left into the Bazaar district and was equally amazed. She had never known a city where every section was its own different environment. There was a barrier in the entryway, so she lowered the zoomer and hopped off. She didn't mind the walk at all.

In the Bazaar, there were tents everywhere and stone buildings. The architecture was like none she had ever seen. There were arches and breezeways here, fruit stands there, and pillars supported the interesting pathway above. People were walking casually around and shopping just as she was.

Ah yes, there was in fact a reason she had come to the Bazaar. She had almost forgotten. Stuffing the map in her back pocket, she removed the recipe card and reviewed the ingredients. Surprisingly, she had heard of most of the vegetables. Still, she had to ask some of the merchants what some other vegetables and spices were and where they were sold. While she shopped, she hesitantly made small talk with other Haven citizens, and again she was surprised to see that most of them were very nice people to talk to. So much for Brice's warning that people were horrible inside the walls.

No more than an hour later, Keira had found all the things on the list and carefully packed them onto her zoomer. She took her time driving back home, although she knew that Terri was probably either worried about her or irritated that she hadn't brought the food back yet. With consideration for her new-found family, she sped up as much as she could considering the grandma drivers in front of her. There were two things she could say for sure about Haven: one was that the city deserved some extensive and detailed exploring to ease her growing curiosity; the other was that the traffic was simply awful.

When she had finally gone halfway through the Slums toward the only gateway open to the High Slums, she could hear a barrage of blasts ahead. Just then, a pack of Krimson Guards rushed through the people below her. Most of them were shoving people and yelling at them to clear the way. One stopped long enough to try to hear the message over his intercom.

"Get your asses over here! The metal heads have taken over the Slums outside the wall, and now they're threatening to break through to the rest of the city! We need backup to help recover some of our guys. Everyone else is going to have to provide cover fire. The Commander is on his way, and you know what kind of disaster that will be. So get here, now! We've got to close the gate!"

Her new home was under attack! That meant that Terri and Brice were...

After losing her family and friends, she was not intent on losing her new family so soon. Ignoring the sinking feeling in her chest and her rising emotions, she dropped down to the lower zone and weaved through the mass of people. Mostly everyone was running away from the danger and she was running toward it. With a flick of her wrist, she changed zones to avoid pedestrians and other zoomers. Awful thoughts plagued her mind, but nothing prepared her for what she saw when she rounded the corner and saw the commotion at the end of the alley.

A barrier of red surrounded the gate. Bullets and energy beams were shot to and fro. Screams came from the other side of the wall, and yells came from the Krimson Guards that were inside the gateway fending off metal head after metal head. She could even see the billows of smoke from various fires. It was complete chaos at every glance.

"Shit, the Commander's coming! Shut the gate! Shut the gate! Get out of there!" one of the Guards yelled.

When she saw the guards pushing back people and metal heads alike, she leapt off her zoomer and fought her way through the distracted guards. She was sure all of them were trying to think of some way to avoid this Commander guy they kept talking about. And no sooner had she thought it, she heard a loud bark of a voice come from far behind her.

"Erol! What the hell do you think you're doing! There are people as well as our own men still in there. You cannot close that gate!"

"That's what you think, Torn," Erol said with an exceedingly arrogant tone. "As second in command, I'm taking over because of your personal interest in the situation. You're not getting through that gate and risking all the lives in Haven City. I'm doing what's best. Sometimes, sacrifices just have to be made," he finished in a mock-sympathic tone.

"You only do what's best for yourself, you bastard. All you care about is saving your own ass. Now, let me through!" By this time, he had made his way past Kiera (hiding within the mass of Guards) and the rest of the crowd. "This is a direct order from your superior officer, Erol. Stand down and open the damn gate!"

Erol sighed and began to pay particular attention to his nails. "Restrain him," he ordered, and was satisfied to see several of his men try to take Torn by the arms. The Commander, Keira found out, was not so easily taken down. He fought against them as they surrounded him in a tight circle to take him down.

Keira knew she had to do something. The only person that seemed to be on her side was being swarmed by the med in red, but that Erol guy was completely unguarded, and that smug grin he was wearing simply grated on her nerves. He was the only person standing in her way from opening the gate. Over all of the commotion around her, she could still hear screams coming from the other side. There were people still alive in there, and she intended to get them out… however she could.

Without much time to prepare, she grabbed the largest wrench she had from her emergency tool kit and charged the red-haired buffoon with the smug grin.

Her heart was pounding as she raced toward the boxes stacked before her. She quickly climbed them like steps and used them as a launch point to come at him from above. He dodged her blow, but to her satisfaction, she managed to clip the back of his head.

Erol lost his balance and toppled ungracefully to the ground. Unfortunately for Keira, so did she. She tucked and rolled, and only her back slammed into the hard metal of the Slums gate. The fall knocked the wind from her, but she was not all that fazed. As quickly as she could, she scrambled to her feet and rushed to the code panel to open the gate. Yet, before she could enter the code to open the gateway, Erol kicked her feet out from under her.

Her face planted hard into the ground, and she was pretty sure that her nose was broken, but still she fought against Erol's attempts to press her face and chest into the ground. She kicked and flung her arms at him fiercely. "No one touches me," he said low into her ear and tugged her hair back so that she was looking at him. "No one. You got that?"

Hate for this man she didn't even know boiled within her. Her family was suffering, possibly dead, behind that wall, and it was all this man's fault. Suddenly, she spat in his face, which got her a sharp slap across her own. She was still pinned to the ground, but she used all her strength to try to throw him off of her.

"Let me go, you bastard! My family is in there. Let me go! Get off of me!" she yelled. "Terri!"

At that, Torn's head jerked in the direction of the girl struggling to free herself from Erol's grip. He knew that name, and to hear her say it sent fire rushing through his veins. He fought even harder against the men who tried to pin him down, but so many more guards took hold of him and jumped onto him that he finally was forced to the ground.

Keira screamed as someone twisted her arms behind her back and bound her hands with something.

"I hope you enjoyed your time in Haven, you bitch, because you're spending the rest of your short life in hell!" Erol yelled from above her and swiftly kicked her in the stomach. The blow forced all the air from her lungs, and she couldn't seem to inhale. She saw the smoke still billowing above the wall, then nothing at all.

"Take her to headquarters and put her in one of the holding cells. Make sure she doesn't have any food and water until I deal with her," he commanded.

"Sir, what about the Commander?" one Krimson Guard questioned.

"It's too late for him to do anything now, and the Baron won't believe or care about whatever he has to say about this. Change the access code for the gate and drop him off in the farm district. That is all."

"You will pay for this, Erol! You will all pay!" Torn snarled from the ground.

* * *

Keira awoke with a throbbing headache in yet another unfamiliar place. Her nose hurt like hell, and she could feel bruises over most of her arms and legs. It was like waking up after falling through a roof all over again. She sat up on the small, uncomfortable bed she had been resting on and looked around. The room was small, with walls that were no more than ten feet long. Exactly where the hell was she? 

There was a sliding door in front of her, but no keypad. Bars covered the small window that was almost too high for her to see out of. The light above her was dim, but since it wasn't flickering and she assumed Haven's electricity ran off of a good power grid, she supposed it was meant to be dim. In addition to there being little light, the concrete walls kept the room cold.

But it wasn't the cold, the light, or the little space in the small room that gave her goosebumps; it was that she could hear nothing. There were no sounds coming from outside. If there were other people being held as she was, they made no noises. She heard no steps and no voices, as if she wasn't being guarded. The light above her didn't even hum with the sound of electricity. There was absolutely nothing but herself.

She had never felt so alone in her life.

She had lost her friends, her father, and now her new-found family. How horrible was this place she was in for people to just be imprisoned behind a wall and left for dead? She had to do something. She didn't know what. But something had to be done about this.

First thing was first; she had to get herself out of this cell before Erol came back to do Precursors-only-know-what to her.

She thought if she could see out of the window, then she might be able to come up with some sort of way to escape, so she slid her tattered bed against the door and climbed on top. She peered out the window and found that she was right in assuming there were no guards. As it turned out, the outside of her cell was just as glib as the inside.

In the middle of the room, there seemed to be an island-like walkway to a chair. Wires were hanging everywhere as if they were still building whatever the chair was supposed to be used for. Beyond the island was another row of cell doors, so she guessed there were several cells on each side of hers as well. Next she tried to angle her head to study the keypad that opened the door. To her great relief, it was just a standard keypad that would open if the right code was entered.

Her first idea was to wear away the concrete and open the door by connecting the right wires from the back of the keypad. But then she remembered Erol's promise to make her life a living hell. Wearing away the concrete would take far too long. She needed to escape now.

Perhaps if she just entered the right code into the keypad, then she could set herself free. This way was much faster, but she would have to find something long enough to reach outside of her window and touch the keypad. As she was assembling wire from the mattress along with other materials she managed to find useful in her room, the thought came to her that she might not be the only one being held prisoner.

Quickly, she jumped back on the bed and yelled as loud as she could.

"Hello! Is there anybody here? Can you hear me? Hello!"

Finally, just as she was beginning to think she really was all alone, she heard the loud clang of metal on metal, and then something hitting the floor. She guessed that someone had thrown something against the bars of their cell. There really was someone else there.

"Hello! Is there someone there? I'm going to get us out okay?" she responded.

No sound answered her.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Say something!"

Again, no sound answered her. Little did she know that her fellow prisoner had never spoken a word in his life, and couldn't answer her even if he wanted to.

She was about to try a third time to get a response, but a loud noise that nearly made Keira jump out of her skin resounded through the room as someone entered. Keira quickly and quietly replaced her bed and feigned sleep. Hopefully, if Erol thought she was still unconscious, he would leave her alone for a little while longer. It was a plan doomed for failure, but she had to at least try.

She tensed as the footsteps approached her door. She tried hard not to whimper as her cell door opened. And it was all she could do to keep her breathing even as he entered the cell and stood beside her bed.

"Hey, get up," he said softly, and nudged her. "I know you're awake."

It wasn't Erol's voice. It was someone else. It wasn't Erol. Thank the Precursors! But who…

Slowly, she peeked one eye open, and to her relief, it really wasn't Erol. The man that towered over her wore a Krimson Guard uniform. His helmet was removed, and the first thing that caught her eye was his corn-rolled hair. With all the strange things she had seen since her arrival in Haven, this had to be the strangest. He also had tattoos all over his face, another thing that seemed strange to her. As she looked into his eyes, she had to stifle a sharp gasp. His eyes were the iciest blue she had ever seen. His eyes made her think of Brice and all the other people in the High Slums who must have suffered.

"You… you're that commander guy, aren't you?" she asked quietly.

A stern look crossed his face as he tossed a heavy uniform onto her bed. "Not anymore. I'm leaving this god-awful place, and I'm taking you with me," he said.

"What? I don't understand."

"You're the girl who tried to open the gate to the Slums, right?"

"Yes," she answered simply.

"And you knew two people called Brice and Terri, isn't that right?" he questioned.

"Yes… they are… they were… my family," she answered him.

"Then put the suit on. If you wear it, that should give us enough time to get out of here before they discover you're gone," he ordered. For a moment, she just sat there as if she hadn't heard him at all. "Hurry up! We're getting out of here."

As he helped her put the uniform on, Torn became lost in his own thoughts. He knew that he had to do something to bring the Baron out of power. Things were getting out of hand, and someone had to stop him. And with Erol moving up in the ranks with his own absence, things could get a lot worse. He didn't know for sure if this girl would be of any help, but he knew he had to protect her.

Not long ago, he had made a promise to his mother and father when they had taken in a young woman after she had suffered a harsh fall through the roof of their home. He had promised his parents that in their absence, he would protect her.

In memory of his parents, he would do just that.

* * *

Well, how did you like the surprise? Was it even a surprise at all? Hope you all enjoyed seeing some familiar faces in this one. I took a different spin on it than I had originally planned, but I think it worked out better. This way, I got to let Keira communicate a bit with her fellow mute prisoner (wink, wink). What do you think so far? Did it totally go a different way than you thought it would? Is it horrible? Tell me! Review! I'll have the next chapter up much faster this time, I promise! -JATS 


	5. The Underground

**Darker by the Day**

By JakandTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. I just manipulate them for our entertainment.

* * *

Chapter 5

The Underground

As soon as she had her Krimson Guard uniform on, Torn took her by the hand and rushed them both out of the cell and toward the exit. And although she was bewildered and disoriented, Keira was a woman who never lost her concern for others.

"Wait," came her muffled voice from behind the red helmet as she tried to retrieve her own hand. "There are other people here… I think. What about them?"

Torn didn't hesitate in his answer and recaptured her hand in his. "We can't worry about them now. I have to get you out of here before Erol comes looking for you." He tried to move forward, but Keira's feet were plated firmly to the floor. She was determined. He had to give her that.

"We'll come back after we're more prepared. But now's not the time to just stand around. Let's go."

The helmet she was wearing was significantly loose and it shuffled back and forth as she ran. Finally, they stopped and Keira found herself in an elevator. She lifted the visor on her helmet and saw the indicator light rapidly blink from one floor number to the next. Still breathless and overwhelmed, she asked, "Where are we going?"

Torn slipped his own helmet over his head, and without looking toward her, replied, "You'll know when we get there."

_I guess that means he doesn't really know either_, she thought.

"Stay behind me, don't talk, and _don't_ look around or at anyone. Keep your eyes on my back and just follow me," he ordered.

Then, before she had time to respond, the door swooshed open and Torn stepped out, and, afraid what would happen if she defied him, she quickly follow foot. Her eyes burning into the small of his back, she could only see red figures moving in all directions. She could tell something serious was going on, and the KG was frantic to do… something. But the answers weren't clear in the middle of Torn's back. Her heart was racing and she dare not take her eyes away from him for fear of being found out.

She didn't exactly know why she trusted this man. It just felt… right. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn't tell what. Maybe he did have the same kind of eyes as Brice; eyes that commanded absolute obedience when needed.

_Brice..._

_Terri..._

_It was still so hard to think about them._

She was startled back into reality when Torn slapped the side of her helmet. "Stay focused! Get on," he ordered.

"Do what?"

"Get on the damn zoomer!" he yelled at her while trying to keep his voice down.

"Fine… I'm getting," she mumbled and slowly got into her side of the two-person zoomer that was parked to the side of the KG entrance. And when Torn sat beside her she said, "You didn't have to yell at me about it."

He slammed the gearstick forward to switch hover zones, and didn't respond until they were halfway through Main Town headed toward the Slums. "Well excuse me for being a little forceful. I thought you were going to stay in la-la land all day and _blow our cover_," he said and spoke through clenched teeth with the last few words.

They sat in silence until they reached the mouth of the alleyway where Torn planned to build the hideout for the resistance movement. He lowered the zoomer, shut if off, and sighed roughly. "I didn't mean to scare you or anything. I know you are… probably going through… some things. But nevertheless, we can't afford any mistakes right now. Not when we haven't even gotten off the ground yet."

"Who's 'we'? What are you talking about? Where are we?" she asked.

Torn smirked. "This is our new establishment of business and residence."

"What?"

"_We_ are the resistance. _We_ are the underground."

* * *

Keira huffed angrily as she hastily dressed and strapped on her newly-acquired weapon. She didn't know exactly how to use it, but she had a pretty good idea who she was going to use it on… and his name rhymed with scorn.

"How dare he go back without me," she said as she snatched the black army jacket off the back of a chair.

She climbed the stairs and listened for any footsteps before sliding open the door. These people should really install and movement sensor so the door could open on its own. It was all she could do to move the massive slab of concrete.

It was a calm night outside, a nice change from the hellish day she had been put through. Again, she thought of Brice and Terri. She hadn't had time to really stop and think about things. Truthfully, she didn't want to have time to stop and think about it. But where she was going now, she had no choice.

How dare he go without her?

Keira lurked in the shadows when she saw an abandoned zoomer after rounding the corner of the alley. It was likely that no one would come to claim before she could start it up and take off, but the trauma of the day had taught her to be more careful about her actions. One never knew where the KG were or when they would strike.

As she quickly leapt onto the zoomer and headed for the gate to the High Sl – Wait, the Baron had called it something else after the attack… Deadtown, that was it. So, as she headed to the gate to Deadtown, she thought of Torn.

He was the Commander of the Krimzon Guard, and now he was suddenly starting this resistance. Had the attack on the city affected him that much? Had he lost someone? Was he really on their side? So much mystery surrounded the man that she owed her life to. Why had he helped her in the first place? How could he have risked so much just saving someone as insignificant as her? There were so many things that she didn't know. There were still so many unanswered questions. She was so confused.

Keira was so confused, in fact, that she almost missed the turn for the gate. Remember her anger at Torn for leaving her behind the one time she felt she needed to be included in something, she jumped off the zoomer and slid through small opening in the ajar gate. She had every intention of screaming his name and pounding him into the ground when she found him.

But as she came to the other side of the gate, she nearly fell to her knees.

Everything was in disarray. Half the buildings she had come to know were nowhere to be found. The buildings that were still standing had been half-blown away, some of them still on fire. From what she could tell, there wasn't a single building that was still whole. Water from the bay had flooded half the town, and it was brown with dust and debris stirred up from the battle. Death was everywhere she looked. People were lying everywhere, people she had come to know, people she saw passing by on the street, people that she hadn't gotten the chance to know. Along side them were these indescribable creatures that looked ten times worse than any lurker she'd ever seen. The worse thing was the smell. The place smelled like death. It was absolutely awful.

It was all too much to take in at once. Tears stung at her eyes and she couldn't seem to get enough air to breathe. Despite the lump in her throat, a sob escaped from her mouth at the same time that she covered it so that it came out a muffled cry. Tears ran down her cheeks and over her hand as her chest heaved out the sobs it had been holding in all day. Finally, she did sink down to her knees in utter despair, feeling completely helpless and defeated. She felt like she was drowning in an inescapable darkness.

She didn't know how long she sat there crying into her hands, but she suddenly felt a strange warmth surround her. It actually felt kinda… nice. It almost calmed her to normal.

Keira opened her eyes to see Torn staring down at her with an expression of mixed emotions. Like the big brother she never had, he had kneeled beside her and hugged her to him, trying to comfort her. She knew nothing of the own agonizing pain he was going through.

"I left you so that you wouldn't have to see all this. We only came to salvage what we could, and bury all the people that the Erol and his men abandoned. I didn't think you could handle it," he said quietly. From his tone, she guessed that there were other people nearby.

She took a tentative look around and nearly flinched at the realization that all the destruction was a reality. "I'm okay now," she half-lied. "I need to go back home. I need to see them."

They stood together, but he kept his arms around her, feeling she wasn't ready to stand on her own. Then, to make her think he didn't already know to whom she referred, he said, "You need to see who? Where is home?"

Together they looked over to their left at the home of Brice and Terri, minus its roof and front wall. Some of the standing rubble had been moved to make a path into the small home.

"You don't want to go in there," he said.

"I have to go," she replied and edged out of his arm, her eyes never leaving the destroyed house she had so recently called home. Tears welled up in her eyes again, but she willed them away. "They're my parents. If I can, I have to see them."

She took only one step and stopped with a sigh. When she looked to her side, he was already there. "Will you go with me?"

He tried to give a reassuring smile as he put his hand atop her head. "Sure I will."

And he did just that. Torn stayed by Keira's side as she stared in awe at the mess her home had been reduced to. He watched her go through all the same emotions he had when he had first gotten there. Toward the back of the house, she found two figures covered with tattered sheets. Her heart sank. She knew somewhere in the back of her mind that there was no way they could have made it through the ordeal alive, but it was still so hard to actually see it with her own eyes.

He was still there in the doorway after she had finished crying and said her peace. When she stood, her back had a stiffness that wasn't there before. Her hands were clenched and her muscles were taut with tension.

As she turned toward him, he saw that her disposition was completely opposite of what it had been before. This side of Keira was unknown to him. This Keira was determined; hell-bent on a purpose.

"I'm not giving you a choice. You're going to let me join the Underground. You're going to teach me what I need to know to fight this war. Together, we're going to ground Praxis into the ground!"

* * *

That's it folks! Kiera's ass-whooping mad now. I felt now was a good time to skip two years ahead so that we can finally see Jak! Yay. I also skipped the review replies. Now that has a way to respond to reviews my mail, I think that's what I'll be doing from now on. But, because we all like to be acknowledged, I will list all my reviewers names for one big thank you. I'll update the chapter later with all the names. Right now, I thought it'd be nice just to give you a new chapter. Hope you liked it. Keep those reviews coming! - JATS 


	6. The New Recruit

**Darker by the Day**

By JakandTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: Oh how I wish….

**Author's Note**: For those of you who read the last few chapters and still don't exactly have a feel for where Keira lived, (and I can't believe I didn't explain this before; shame on me!) here's a description to help you out. I roughly mapped out Dead Town in my head, so the house is an actual place in the game. The building that they lived in can be seen from the beginning of Jak II but can't really be explored until the Titan Suit missions start. If I'm not mistaken, the building that you first barge into with the Titan Suit is their house, which means that it's to the left of the Dead Town entrance. I assumed that the area was not as flooded two years before and you could walk to that island. So can everyone picture it now? Hope so. Sorry for not explaining before. :D

Extra special thanks to **Red Mage 04** and **Silver-WindScar** for helping me out. You guys are great.

* * *

Chapter 6

_The New Recruit_

TWO YEARS LATER…

Keira sat in her usual bunk in the Underground hideout, flipping through a briefing of her next undercover mission as the Stadium garage mechanic.

Torn stood over his own array of maps, blueprints, and mission objectives spread across the conference table in the center of the room. Only he was looking at Keira instead of going over his schematics.

If he looked close, he could still see remnants of the innocent and scared girl he had rescued two years ago. She looked and acted so much different now. Even though he had grown accustomed to the new Keira, he still awed at the transformation.

Her hair, all one length and so long that it brushed past her shoulders, appeared darker due to subtle black highlights. Both her ears had three silver loops in them, and her face was nearly the same, save for an angled scar down her left cheek. She wore her same white tank, but now added the short black army-style jacket that Torn had given her the day they started the Underground. Her midsection was bare, displaying a length of muscles that were more toned that most women's due to excessive use. Her long legs were crossed at the ankles. Her black pants hugged every curve and sported criss-crossing slashes to show off her smooth, muscled legs. Her boots made her feet sink into the mattress from their weight, but heavy boots were necessary for the wear and tear she put on them.

She also had the Underground symbol tattooed over her right shoulder blade. Another tattoo with markings that ying-yanged into the House of Mar symbol was on her lower back. There was one tattoo, one she wouldn't show to anyone, covered by a black arm band that both hid her tattoo and served as a symbol of remembrance for those who were slain in the attack on Dead Town.

Torn turned his attention to the papers before him. He tried to concentrate on mapping out an attack on the ammo dump in the KG fortress, but his mind just wouldn't stay focused. It had been two years since he and his men had started the Underground movement, and yet they weren't really any closer to taking down the Baron.

Sure, they had small victories like successfully defending parts of Haven against Metal Head attacks, and cleverly-place spies seemed to be their strongest weapon at the moment. But when it all added up, it wasn't much. Information gathering was either inaccurate or arrived too late to use. They kept losing men and gaining nothing from it. They seriously needed to catch a break. They needed a miracle.

This was one uphill battle that Torn wasn't sure would succeed. But for his parents, for everyone else that had died, he would fight it to the death.

At least he could try to protect Keira…

He couldn't bear to lose her.

In one swift movement, Keira lifted the tattered cloth that veiled her bunk and stood. Torn glanced at her and mentally prepared himself… because she looked none too happy.

With a grunt, she threw the briefing on the table. "What the hell is that Torn?"

Here we go…

"That's your mission briefing. Is there a problem?"

"Hell yes there's a problem! You're taking me out of the field! You know I don't mind doing undercover work, but this pansy-ass garage job is long term. Everything's coming to a peak, and you know it, but you're sticking me in a hole so I'm not involved at all." She placed both her hands flat on the table, mimicking his own posture. "I'm not doing it."

Torn tread carefully with his words. It would probably not be a good idea to piss her off more. "Keira, I'm not giving you this garage job to take you out of the loop. You were a mechanic before you were a soldier. This job requires you to be both."

He hesitated. He didn't dare tell her that he really was giving her his mission so he could protect her. The Slums hadn't had water for over a week, the Baron was overworking Vin at the Strip Mine to get more eco, and Ashelin was beginning to think that something big was about to go down. Things were building up, and he needed Keira to get out of the middle before she got hurt.

Instead, he said, "Besides, you're the best spy we've got, and Erol may be a bigger part of this than we originally thought. We need information out of him. You're our best option."

"He'll recognize me."

Torn smirked. "He won't. You look nothing the same as you did two years ago. There's no chance that he'll even give you a second look."

She stood, hands on hips, and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're being overprotective. I'm not a scared little girl anymore."

In a sudden outburst, he slammed his fist against the table. "I don't care if you're Wonder Woman, you're taking this mission!"

Her head was beginning to hurt from her frustration. She decided that her usual route of argument wasn't worth it if he was going to get _that_ mad. She decided she was going to have to prove on her own time that she was worth her salt.

And as enticing as the idea of getting to use her mechanical expertise sounded, she felt too deep into the Underground cause to be so distant from the action at such a crucial point.

"You're taking the mission," he affirmed.

"On one condition."

"Keira…"

"Let me work regular missions on the night patrol. I'll be fine."

He hesitated, letting her think that he was actually considering such an insane request.

"I'll… be… fine. Torn, I joined the resistance for the same reasons you did. I need to be a part of this. I don't deserve to just sit back and watch it all happen."

Damn it. She was using that pitifully sad tone in her voice and her eyes glistened with forced tears. He knew it was a ploy. But it was a damn good one, because it worked. It always did.

"I'll try to find you something to do. But don't brush off this mission so easily. Get information out of Erol any way you can. Tess will take your place with the weapons and cargo. You can pick up where she leaves off at night. No buts. Now go!"

With a displeased grunt, she turned and left.

He let out a deep breath. Finally, he could get back to his plans.

Then a voice came over his earpiece communicator. "Torn, where are you?"

Damn it… It was Kor.

He touched the receiver in his ear to respond. "I'm at the Hideout. Why?"

"I've sent a young man your way. He wants to join our operation. I think you'll find him very… interesting."

* * *

Keira came down the stairs of the Hideout with smudges on her face and a greasy rag in her back pocket. She looked like a mechanic again.

She saw Torn smirk as he pretended not to notice her entrance.

She glared at him. "Don't say a damn word. I'm grabbing a shower before I go to South Town to work on the weapons." Her hand hovered over the hidden door in the wall before her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Shit… I was so tired I forgot we don't have water. Now I have to go all the way back to…"

"It's okay. The water's back on," he interrupted.

"What? How? Wait… don't even tell me. I'm too tired to think right now. I'll be back in ten minutes. You can tell me all about today then."

Fifteen minutes later, the hidden door slid open to reveal Keira towel-drying her hair. She carried her jacket and boots. The last inches of her pants legs bunched and dragged along in the dirt on the floor.

She tossed her clothes toward her bunk and leaned against the table next to him, her back to the scatter of papers he was looking at. "So… tell me how you managed to get the water back on."

Keeping his eyes on the map of the KG fortress, he replied, "We got a new recruit today. He's the one that caused all that commotion in Dead Town."

"I heard something like that. What happened?"

"The tower in the square… it… sorta collapsed."

Comprehension rang within her mind and towel nearly fell from her hands. "You sent him to get the banner, didn't you?"

He half shrugged. "I wanted to see what he could do. He looked promising. On my way to check on him, I got information from Ashelin about how to turn on the Slum's water, so I sent him to do that too."

"And?" she asked, not concerned with the water at all.

"I think he'll be an asset to the cause. He's… good. He took out the Metal Heads at the Pumping Station like they were nothing. If he lives through tomorrow, we'll have to get him one of your Morph Guns." As soon as he mentioned the Morph Gun, he wished he could stuff the words back in his mouth.

Kiera stiffened. "He's been here less than a day and you're already thinking about giving him a gun! It took me months to refine the gun prototype and all its artillery. I didn't make it so you could just hand them out to rookies when…" She stopped when she noticed his fierce glare and absentmindedly went back to drying her hair.

Her anger couldn't be helped. She had slaved for months over ways to manipulate the trace amounts of eco into usable artillery, and then a gun that was flexible enough to use them all. She was proud of her knowledge of the ancient motion, force, and fire ecos and worked night and day to make weapons on the chance that they would give the Underground an upper hand.

She considered it her greatest accomplishment and yet she had received littler more than a thanks and a pat on the back. Worse than that, Torn hardly gave her enough opportunities to use it, even though she held the records on all the gun courses.

It was just like Sandover. She would create the means and stand back while other people got to use them. There had to be something she could do that would make them all see. She was tired of standing back and watching.

When her hair was nearly dry, she tossed the towel toward her bunk. Her mind turned to something else.

"Whatddya mean if he lives through tomorrow?" she asked.

"He's good, Keira. Real good. Maybe too good. I don't trust him yet. Someone who knows how to fight like that might be a spy from the Baron, so I'm thinking about giving him the ammo dump mission." Torn studied the map of the KG Fortress.

"But I heard word that he killed a whole squad of Krimzon Guards."

"Killing a few guards is nothing to the Baron. You know that. The ammo is too valuable to the Baron for one of his spies to destroy. If he pulls this off, then I might let him take our payment to Krew. If he starts to give us information that's not bogus, then I won't have to kill him. Until then, I'll only give him the need-to-know info."

"You're really being careful, aren't you?"

"I can't risk a repeat of last time. New faces make me too nervous now."

Torn looked at Keira. She had a thoughtful expression on her face as she stared at the wall. She lightly chewed on her lower lip as she always did while she was thinking. Her hair was still damp and wavy with curls from being towel dried. That weird feeling started to seep into him again. Over these past two years, he had come to realize just how special Keira was. They had found out that she was from the distant past, that she probably invented zoomers, and that she was connected to the grand scheme of things somehow. She wasn't just any ordinary girl.

He had changed as well… or rather, something within him had. He didn't know where or how, but sometime down the line he had manifested feelings for Keira that were far from brotherly. He now felt for Keira what he used to feel for Ashelin. It confused him, and he ignored it as much as possible. He was devoted to Ashelin, and he got the feeling that she belonged to someone else, though he couldn't imagine who.

These feelings, he had decided, were just plain stupid and were not worth heeding. It was probably just stress anyway.

"He wants to meet the Shadow," Torn said.

Keira almost jumped at the sound of his voice. "Who? Oh… the new recruit. Why does he want to meet Samos?"

"Because he doesn't know his place, that's why. Really, I don't know. But he's adamant about it."

"I see…"

After a few moments in silence, he noticed her expression became more serious. She turned her face to his and, in a quiet voice, asked, "Are you coming with me tomorrow night?"

Ah yes… tomorrow would be two years to the day. No wonder she had been quieter than usual tonight.

In an equally quiet voice, he answered, "Yeah, sure. We'll go after you get back from the garage. You can afford to take an hour or two off before you start on the weapon upgrades. You can take the night off if you want."

"No… I need to work to get my mind off things after all that," she said. He half-smirked. Those words came from the Keira he knew. She stood, slipped on her boots and jacket, and grabbed the bag from under her bunk to leave.

"Keira."

"Yeah?"

"If Krew doesn't kill the new guy, he'll be contacting you for night missions. How's that for a new assignment?"

She smirked at him over her shoulder. "That'll do just fine. Thanks for caving in."

He smirked back. "Don't I always?"

To be continued…

* * *

Just a side note – when I describe Keira's short, black army jacket, think Mirai Trunk's (DBZ) jacket, only black and without the CC logo. That make sense?

Alright people! That's it for another chapter. I don't start my summer semester until May 30, so expect more updates until then. I don't know why I focused on Torn and Keira again for this chapter, but I promise there will be more from Jak's perspective from now on. I meant to include him in this chapter as well, but things don't always go as planned when I write.

Sorry for the wait in the update, but you know how busy I get with these college classes, and this last semester I had to take more hours. Sorry 'bout that! I'm back for a while, and only taking two classes, so I might be able to update throughout the summer. Here's hoping! Review please! - JATS

Special thanks to my reviewers!

Angel0four

Anime/videogame freak

Ecohorse

GMB

GoodMorningBeautiful2005

GundamWingFanatic90

Helenilia

Jaklover123

L.K. Sythesis

Mecca-dog

Mysterious Prophetess

Red Mage 04

Silver-WindScar

The Random Writer

VictoriousViolet

Xazz


	7. What A Day

**Darker by the Day**

By JakandTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: We the racers hereby agree to give JATS all rights for…. Just kidding. v

* * *

Chapter 7

_What a Day_

What a day! Blowing the hell outta the Ammo Dump, racing past Krimzon Guards, killing Metal Heads, and to top it all off, he had a gun. A cool new gun to blow away as many things as he had shells for.

And he was good with it too. He had the top score on the Scatter Gun course and put his practice to use by expertly protecting Sig on their Metal Head hunt. Metal Heads were new to him, but they weren't much different than lurkers; only bigger and uglier. The good part was that he had found a vent for his ever-building rage.

He grinned darkly to himself. Praxis was going to realize that payback was a bitch… and he was only getting started.

Jak hadn't been this excited since… well, he couldn't remember ever being this exhilarated in his life.

Daxter, on the other hand, saw things differently. Since teaming up with Jak again, he had been sucked down a pipe, blown out of a building, and taken a nasty fall down a very uncomfortable tension cable. He still cringed if he moved wrong.

Being Jak's friend sucked…

But he was glad to have his best friend back. He tried to ignore the drastic changes in him, though Jak didn't seem to mind having strange powers. He sure used them often enough. Daxter didn't mind Jak being able to destroy a swarm of Metal Heads with one slam of his fist, but he was worried that he might lose his friend again if this dark power stuff got too out of hand.

In mid thought, Daxter's stomach unceremoniously let out a loud growl. Jak looked over his shoulder at him. For a while, they just looked at each other. Then they both burst out laughing.

And for the first time in a long time, Daxter felt relief. It was good to hear Jak laugh again.

"Whaddya say we find some food before heading back to the Hip Hog, eh Dax?"

He started walking again before his friend could answer. Suddenly, he felt something strange on his left shoulder.

"Dax?"

Daxter answered him with a slack-jawed sound.

"Stop drooling on me."

* * *

What a day…

Keira had almost said it aloud. After a few measly hours of sleep, she had dragged herself away from her work desk in the Underground's secret weapon-making room to go to work at the garage.

She spent her first few hours there fixing a few dozen racers and zoomers, which was supposed to be her work for the whole day. But being the extraordinary mechanic she was, she finished before lunch and spent the rest of the day alternating between napping and working on her replication of the Rift Rider.

The machine was almost done. For the last two years, she had managed countless favors for the scrap yard manager in exchange for parts to build it. Now that the structure was done, she worked on the mechanics of it.

She had never been so glad that she had taken the whole thing apart and put it back together again in Sandover. It had taken weeks, but she never forgot anything about machinery, and this was no exception. Tomorrow she would have to visit the bookkeeper in order to study some of the Precursor artifacts she needed to run it. Those few pieces were the only things missing. And if she couldn't find them… she'd never be able to see her home again.

And all that was would be for nothing if she couldn't find a Rift Ring.

If only she could find her father – her _real_ father – and Jak and Daxter.

But if she had to, she'd go back alone.

On top of her troubles with the Rift Rider, Erol had made his first appearance today.

She tried to act normal. She thought for sure that he'd recognize her. She thought she'd be arrested again and stuck in a cell waiting to be tortured.

Instead, he had thrown line after line her way, using his position with the Guard and his championship status to try to impress her. He had _flirted_ with her!

When she took this mission, she thought for sure that she would have to come up with some sort of ingenious plan to pry information from him. Now she realized all she had to do was bat her eyelashes and stroke his ego – and _only_ his ego – to get what she needed.

Unfortunately, it was still going to be a slow process. None of the things he said today were useful at all, because they mostly concerned her breasts and her ass. The commander of the Krimzon Guard knew nothing of tact or flattery.

Her night wasn't starting out so well either. Going back to her old house in Dead Town on the anniversary of the attack seemed to get harder every year instead of easier. What she needed now was to vent on the Gun Course. The new shells she had been making could wait.

Keira found herself back where she started; back at the Gun Course.

Tess waited until the door slid shut behind Keira before making her appearance from behind the shelved structure that hid the path to the Underground's weapons room. The grin on her face made Keira wonder what had happened.

"Keir, you have seen him!"

"Seen who?"

"This new guy. I heard from Torn that he'd probably be coming by the Gun Course today to try out his gun. He asked me to watch him to see if he was any good. Boy, was he ever!"

Keira gave Tess the best smile she could manage and brushed past her to sit at her work table. It was especially nice to have Tess' bubbly personality around on a day like today. In some small way, Tess lifted her spirits a little.

Tess' specialty with weapons was making mechanical modifications so that they worked more efficiently. Keira's job was to make better shells and abilities for the guns since she had a talent for manipulating eco. She had come up with four so far – one for each kind of eco except health eco – but more types were needed.

Keira guessed she had caught Tess in the middle of a modification since the gun on the table was more apart than it was together. Still was still going on and on about the new recruit for the Underground.

"He's tall… taller than you even, and you're nearly taller than Ashelin. And he has this _gorgeous_ long, blond hair. His shoulders are so broad, and his legs… he's so quick! Oh, and his face. He's so cute. He has the deepest most dreamy blue blue eyes you've ever seen!" Tess went on.

Hearing her talk about him made her think of Jak. No one's eyes were a deeper blue than Jak's. But today was definitely not a day to be thinking about Jak. She was trouble enough as is.

"Yes, well, how was his shooting?" Keira asked passively.

Tess nearly sighed in exasperation. Her tone turned more serious. "You never were one for girl talk." Leaning over her friend, Tess pushed a button on the panel in front of Keira. "See for yourself."

Keira was nearly slack-jawed as the record board appeared in front of her. "He beat my record? That's…"

"Impossible? Not for this guy," Tess said, the girlish tone gone from her voice. "He has the reflexes of a cat. He handles a gun like he's been shooting his whole life. It's not just that. Watching him wasn't just pleasing to the eye. The way he moved… I can tell he's going to give the people a lot of hope. He's reckless, but I can tell…. He's a hero."

That really _did_ sound like Jak. But this new guy could talk, and she had never known Jak to say a word in his life.

She supposed she wouldn't know until she saw him. She supposed she shouldn't get her hopes up anyway.

"Anyway, I guess I better go. Torn says he's got a new undercover mission for me. See ya, Keir!"

"Yeah… see ya."

_What if he really is Jak?_

Her communicator crackled to life. "Keira. I need you to do something." It was Torn.

"Yeah, Torn. What is it, and how far do I have to go to do it?" She really didn't feel like driving around Haven all night for a simple errand.

"Just around the corner. I need you to pay Krew to find a racer for your racing team."

"But I don't have a racing team," she protested. "I only just started the garage job."

"Well now you have a team. No doubt Krew'll give the job to the rookie. Then we'll have two people on the inside, and you'll be able to give him missions under the guise of a racing and his manager."

"I think I understand now. Wait, so what am I doing on the night shift? I thought I was giving missions to the new guy?"

"Change of plans. We're getting more missions than we have men for. I need you on the ball come sunset, so get as much rest as you can during the day without getting caught. Your main job is to get info out of Erol any way you can."

She cringed at knowing how she would have to do it. Her disgust nearly distracted her from what he was trying to tell her.

"Wait… you're putting me on missions? Real missions?"

Torn hesitated. He wanted to tell her that what she had been doing was important and they _were_ real missions, but knew she wouldn't listen. He hadn't expected things to get this hectic this fast, and he saw no way to keep Keira out of it. They seriously needed her sharp-shooting skills.

"Yes, Keira."

For the first time that day, Keira smiled. A real smile. A victorious smile. Finally her bad day was looking up.

"Thank you, Torn."

"Whatever." He turned off the communicator.

Looking down at the Morph Gun, she sighed both pleasantly and wearily.

What a day…

* * *

As Torn broke communication with Keira, Jak entered the hideout. He stretched his arms over his head as he descended the stairs, relaxed and stuffed full of Yakow steaks. "You wanted to see me?" he asked.

"Yeah. I've got some news for you. Your recklessness around the Guard is drawing them closer to the location of the Hideout. So you need to stay away from the Slums for a while. Unless I need to give you missions personally, you'll be given orders from someone else."

"Someone else?" Jak asked warily. "Who?"

"She's our best spy, and your new boss. So deal with it."

"She? Our new boss is a girl?"

Torn smirked. "She's not just any girl. You got a problem with that?"

Daxter jumped off of Jak's shoulder and onto the table in front of Torn. "Hey! Tattooed wonder! How come you're giving us all the crappy missions and handing us over to some chick?" He almost asked if she was hot, but Torn poked him in the stomach with his finger.

"Because… I… Don't… Like… You."

Torn had gotten so in his face that he ungracefully fell to the floor. "Uh… fair enough."

"Don't give her any trouble. Just do _what_ she says _when_ she says to do it."

"Or we'll have you to answer to?" Jak smarted.

"Or she'll kick your ass herself. She doesn't tolerate lip from anyone. I wouldn't get on her bad side if I were you."

Jak didn't like it, but he suppose arguing would do him no good. His good day seemed to be getting worse and worse. "Fine. But if she runs us into trouble, you're the one who's going to get an ass-kicking."

"Hmph. If you get into trouble, it'll be your own damn fault. I just received some intel that one of the Baron's mining operations is under attack by the Metal Heads."

Jak scoffed. "That's not _our_ problem."

Torn wanted to growl. If this guy wasn't so good at what he did, he'd be a serious problem. "It _is_ our problem when the foreman's one of the Underground's best informants. His name is Vin and he's just valuable enough to save. Get to the Power Station in the Industrial sector. Use the warp gate to travel to the Strip Mine so you can rescue Vin's pathetic hide."

As Daxter hopped onto his shoulder, Jak turned and left. He wasn't going to like this one bit.

As he heard the door slide shut, Torn leaned his elbows on the table and rubbed his throbbing temples.

What a day…

* * *

Congratulate me people, because I've just set a new record! For the first time ever, I'm updating after only four days! And really, it's all thanks to your encouragement. I'd still write if you guys didn't review, but I wouldn't enjoy it as much. You guys keep me going! So keep those reviews coming, and maybe my next update will be just as soon!

In the next chapter, Jak and Keira are finally reunited. Don't miss it! – JATS

Since the previous chapter has only been up four days, I don't have many reviewers to thank.

So, an **EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS** goes to my early reviewers!

**Angel0four**

**Mecca-dog**

**Xazz**


	8. Reunited

**Darker by the Day**

By JakandTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: … All print rights including book, novella, pamphlet, tickertape, neon sign, bathroom graffiti… and fanfiction. :P Just kidding, again.

* * *

Chapter 8

_Reunited_

Keira had fallen asleep propped in an old chair in the corner of her newly-blanketed area of the garage. She had been reading one of dozens of old books about very ancient Precursor artifacts. The book was now tented across her face as she napped.

She dreamed of home. The air was pure, the sand was white, the village was peaceful, and there wasn't a care in the world. Her father was there. Her friends were there. Everything was perfect.

Life was good.

Suddenly, a putrid smell invaded her senses and roused her from sleep. She peeled the book from her face and sniffed her shirt. The awful smell was there, but it wasn't her.

"What is that _wretched _smell!" she asked herself as she sat upright in her chair and moved her stiff legs from where they were propped against the Rift Rider.

"That would be us," came a deep voice from behind the curtain.

She nearly jumped, but managed to sound unsurprised. "Who's we? What do you want?" Nonchalantly, she went back to flipping through the pages of her book. Through the curtain, she could only see one figure. She supposed the other was either too short or the curtain was too thick to tell.

"Krew sent us. He said you were looking for a race driver?"

So _he_ was the rookie? Tess could certainly add "deep sexy voice" to that long list she had. But her thoughts veered in another direction as her nose twitched in disgust. "That doesn't explain why you reek of shit."

"Krew sent us down into the sewers this morning on an _errand_," he said irritably. "You can thank him for the smell."

So he really was Krew's new muscle. She hadn't meant shit literally, but she could see – or rather smell – that she had hit the nail on the head. She didn't pity him at all.

"I'll be sure to do that," she replied and flipped a page. "You got here fast, but I'm far too busy to deal with you right now." Technically, she wasn't really lying.

"Is there anything we can do?" the voice replied. It was even deeper now, and she could tell he was trying to be smooth.

Before he could offer again, she snapped, "It's none of your damn business!"

"Okay, sorry!" he answered as if her tone actually smacked him on the hand or something.

Keira decided this guy was more of a pain in the ass in person that he was in theory. Tess could add that egotistical pain in the ass part to her list too.

"Look, if you really think you've got the guts to race in this town, you can try out my JET-Board prototype on the stadium course. Beat the challenge and maybe I'll consider you for my team. You're no good to me if you can't at least do that."

As he left, she went back to studying the page. The artifact was nothing like what she needed. Forlorn, she gazed at the two pictures she had tacked to her wall.

The Index of Precursor Artifacts had drawings of every artifact known to man. She had hung the pictures from the book on the wall, but there hadn't been one iota of information on either of the ones she needed. All she knew was that her whole operation depended on something called the Heart of Mar gem and a Time Map. She had no proof either existed except for her own memory. Even if they had existed at one point, there was no guarantee that they could still be found.

Sighing, she placed the book back over her face, propped her feet up, and waited for the smell to wake her again.

* * *

Jak walked along the Stadium wall to the entrance at a slower pace than usual. One would think that he would have run there from the over-excitement about the JET-Board. Yet he could hardly think of that at all.

There had been something very familiar about the woman who sat behind the curtain. He couldn't remember ever hearing her voice, but he felt that he knew it somehow.

It was strange. It made him _feel_ strange.

Maybe he had just stayed in the Sewers too long.

"Man, she was hot. Wasn't she, Jak?" Daxter said from his usual perch.

"You couldn't even see her, Dax." His thoughts drifted back to her voice. Despite its harsh edge, her voice had been low; sensual even. Her tone had been completely confident. This was a woman he wouldn't mind spending time with.

He suppressed a grin.

"Yeah, but you couldn't miss those curves, right? Hot!"

About that, Daxter was right. Her hair was long, and her curves were indeed enticing. Her legs were shapely and long. Her waist was tiny and slender. And her breasts… well, there weren't really any words he knew that could describe them. Her posture, like her voice, had been nonchalant and confident. She acted completely sure of herself.

Torn was right. She wasn't any ordinary woman.

She wasn't like any woman he had ever met. Of that, he was sure.

"Well, Dax, we'll just have to shatter the Stadium record so we can impress the pants off her!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

This time, Keira heard him coming.

"We beat the stadium challenge," he proclaimed rather smugly as he set foot in the garage.

Apparently, he now reeked of something other than shit.

"Well whoopity-damn-doo," she answered, her tone dripping with loathing.

_So much for impressing her… _"You don't like us, do you?"

"I don't have to like you. I don't have to like anyone."

"I gathered that," he answered sarcastically. Then, as he looked at shelves full of trophies, an idea struck him. "Isn't it true that the city champion gets to tour the Palace?"

The sudden change of subject made Keira suspicious. "Yeah… why?"

"Can you get me into the Palace?"

Ah… now she understood. She smirked. "A friendly visit I gather?"

"Yeah… I'm a real fan of the Baron."

She considered the best way to get to the Palace without walking through the front door. "Step closer to the curtain."

"What?" Now she was really confusing him.

"I said step closer! And keep it down!" she snapped. "I know Krew sent you, but you really work for the Underground, right?"

"How did you…"

"Torn told you the garage mechanic would be your new contact, didn't he?"

"_You_ are our new boss!"

Keira was getting tired of this "our" and "we" business. She was beginning to think he had a split personality. "Look, do you want to get to the Palace or not?"

He sighed in a rather exasperated way. "Fine. Go on."

"Because I'm grateful to you for saving Vin's life, and because I'm due to pay a visit to the Baron myself, I'll help you out. There's an old maintenance elevator in one of the Palace's support towers. I need you to go ask Vin if he can somehow get it up and running. Contact me if it works. And don't tell Torn about any of this."

Jak _really_ didn't like taking orders from a girl, especially a girl as unpleasant as this one. And he _really _didn't like having her tag along. But if it got him to the Palace, what choice did he have?

"We got it. We'll call you."

As he turned to leave, she spoke again. "Oh, new boy."

"Yeah?"

She lowered her tone to a menacing level. "If I find out you went without me, I'll shoot you myself."

* * *

As Jak drove toward the Slums for the last two cannons, Jak mumbled, "She's infuriating!"

"Makes her even hotter doesn't it?" Daxter yelled in his ear. He yelped as Jak changed back and forth between the two zoomer zones to avoid traffic and pedestrians. "Would ya stop with that! I'm the one gettin' thrown around up here!"

Jak just growled. "Well than you better hang on for this!" he answered and rolled off the zoomer for it to crash into the cannon. As soon as he stepped on the activation pad, he quickly hijacked another vehicle before the surrounding KG could catch up.

"It doesn't make her hotter," Jak said in response to Daxter's earlier comment. "It only makes her more troublesome. I don't see how anyone can stand her!"

Jak stayed in the lower zone to round the tight corner. It was the one place in Haven that could make or break a fast getaway. Who the hell built the road around that building anyway? Probably that idiot genius, Mar.

"I saw ya lookin' at her. You like her."

"I couldn't even see her. She's probably old or ugly or has too many muscles or something. Besides that, she's a pain in my ass."

"She's probably not as hot as Tess, but I bet she's a close second. I'd bet my tail on it."

Jak smirked. "Alright. I'm sure Torn wouldn't mind me borrowing his knife if it's to cut off your scrawny tail."

Daxter gulped even though he knew his friend was only kidding. Wasn't he?

"Hang on, Dax!" The last cannon was in sight. To run the zoomer into it, Jak stood and did a backward somersault to the ground. He could see the KG pouring in from all sides now, so he quickly pressed the last activator and hopped into another abandoned zoomer. He always wondered who in their right mind would leave their zoomer unmanned in the middle of the Slums.

Oh well… their loss and his gain.

Vin came over his communicator confirming that the B-zone power grid was back up and the elevator was operational. He even wished them good luck in getting themselves killed.

That guy was seriously paranoid.

He pressed the comm. link in his ear to contact his new, seriously curvy, pain in his ass, female boss to report. "We got the elevator working again."

For some reason, he realized that he didn't even know her name.

"Good work. The elevator is just inward of Main Town. I'm sending your GPS the location now. How long will it take you to get there?"

Jak looked at the GPS map. "If I haul ass, I can be there in 10, easy."

She could get there in half the time since she was already in Main Town and could make it most of the way through the waterways. "I can be there in 5. Get there faster."

That woman was never happy. "How will I know it's you?"

"You'll know it's me. Trust me."

Jak could hear a commotion in the background. "At least tell me your name," he said. Then, a continuous crash of metal on metal nearly burst his eardrum.

"Damn it! Don't bother me with stupid shit! You may have destroyed the Ammo Dump and saved Vin's ass, but you're still a short spit from the bottom rung on this ladder. Don't get too proud of yourself, rookie, or I'll be the one to knock your ass back in place!" And with that, Keira cut off the communicator.

Mad as hell, she looked down at the sickening pile or wrenches and ratchets on the floor. Picking them up and putting them where they belonged would take precious time.

Screw it. She could pick them up in the morning.

Without a second thought, she shut the automatic garage doors and headed for a conveniently empty zoomer. She grinned. People in Main Town were far too trusting.

* * *

Jak stopped and turned off his zoomer just around the corner from the elevator. "Either stay here or stay low. I want you to get out of here if this is some sort of trick. Got it?"

Not waiting on Daxter to answer, he stood and rounded the corner. Even with the low sun in his eyes, he could see the figure standing on the ramp was female. The woman definitely had the right kind of curves for it to be her. Her hair was long and had a deep blue hue to it. From this angle, she was rather attractive.

The silence made her especially attractive.

The figure stood with one hand on her hip and the other shielding her face from the sun. She looked toward the sky as if looking for something in particular. He made special care that she didn't hear his approach, but somehow she sensed him anyway.

"What took you so long?" she said, still looking toward the skies. "We've already got a bad start. A star fell from the sky. My father always used to say that a falling star at sunset was a bad omen."

Jak stopped mid-step. For a second, he stopped breathing. Even his heart stopped. Her words has shot through him like a bullet.

Then, suddenly everything made sense.

_She sat in between his legs, her back against his chest, and he had a blanket wrapped around the both of them. Their eyes were fixed on the night sky above._

"_Jak, did you see it?" He heard the smile in her voice, and he hummed an affirmative in response. He hugged her closer with the increasing chill of the night. "Every time I see a shooting star, it reminds me of something my father told me long ago. 'There's a superstition,' he said, 'that when a star falls something very important is going to happen, and that you wish upon the star in hopes that the event will end in good fortune. But you should always beware when a star falls at sunset. Something terrible always happens if a star falls at sunset.'"_

He would never forget it. There was no way he could have. That night had been the best night of his life. He had never heard of that superstition before, and he hadn't heard of it since. It could only come from one person.

_You should always beware when a star falls at sunset. Something terrible always happens if a star falls at sunset._

From one person. He almost couldn't believe it. Didn't really believe it.

This curvy, gorgeous, quick-witted, pain-in-the ass woman was none other than the love of his life. This woman was Keira Hagai.

Maybe that loud crash in his ear had not only caused hearing damage, but made him delirious.

She turned so that the she blocked the sun, and his breath hitched. Seeing her face confirmed it. She looked nothing the same, but this was his Keira alright.

Keira turned and set eyes on him for the first time. Tess' description fit him to a 'T'. His long, blonde hair had a green hue at the roots. His body was tall, strong, and plenty muscled. His jaw was strong as well and his face was angular. Tess had failed to mention his adorable goatee. But it was his eyes and those goggles that had her looking twice.

His goggles were different, yet looked the same. She had seen Jak with that look for as long as she could remember. She had said it the night before. No one had Jak's eyes. Yet his eyes looked so much like Jak's. The deepest blue she had ever seen.

Her breath caught. Her heart stopped. It couldn't possibly really be him… could it?

"Keira?"

Being off-guard at his exclamation, Keira immediately switched into soldier mode. In a flash, she unholstered her laser pistol and steadied it right between his eyes. "How do you know my name?"

At Jak's mention of Keira's name, Daxter came around the corner in a hurry. He couldn't see anything past Jak's solid form.

Keira advanced all the way to the edge of the ramp, showing a rare case of apprehension. "Who are you?"

Just as fast as he had taken the corner, Daxter crawled up to his perch on Jak's shoulder.

The sudden movement had almost caused Keira to pull the trigger. Her barrel shifted in Daxter's direction. The quick advance had almost cost him his head.

But what he saw was even more shocking. She really was Keira. They had found Keira!

"Daxter?"

"Keira?"

He leapt off one best friend's shoulder and toward another. His face landed conveniently in the middle of her chest, but she didn't seem to mind. She hugged the little ottsel to her anyway.

She had finally found her friends. And to think, they had been under her nose the whole time.

"Oh, Daxter! I never _ever_ thought I'd be so glad to see your furry little mug!"

After a long, cozy moment, he regrettably tore his face away from her bosom and she set him down.

Her eyes settled on Jak, and she jumped down from the ramp. He seemed taller. He seemed a lot more than taller. He was much different.

For someone so in tune with her emotions, Keira had no idea what she was feeling or how she was supposed to feel.

"Jak," she said in a strange tone of voice. Her hand rose to his face and hovered over his cheek. She didn't, wouldn't dare touch him.

His hand seemed to mimic hers and rose to her left cheek, tracing in the air a scar that hadn't been there before.

A split-second later, their hands were at their respective sides, and each was avoiding the other's gaze. Keira surveyed their surroundings in the hopes that they hadn't made a scene. "We need to get going. Getting power to the elevator was the easy part.

"Getting to the Palace is going to be hell."

To be continued…

* * *

And that's how Jak and Keira re-met. :D So how was it? Horrible? Not what you thought? A nice surprise? Liked the game version better? Let me know!

Congratulate me again! I'm updating after only four more days, and this chapter was easily two Word pages longer. This is a nice little habit I'm making. But don't get used to it! I know it's nice now, but I can't promise this all the time. You've caught me on a hot streak. I get those about once every four or five years, I guess. Ha ha!

I think the whole huggy/kissy reunion is cheesy, but I promise some nice J/K action next chapter. There'll probably even be a little R&R time to catch up on stuff. :D Wonder how Torn's gonna feel about his two best members of the Underground getting together… if he cares at all? Hmmm…

I've got the next chapter all mapped out in my head, so maybe I can post this one soon too!

- JATS

* * *

Thanks again to all my reviewers! You guys are the best!

**Angel0four**

**Farr2rich**

**GundamWingFanatic90**

**Kaylina the Gerudo**

**Mecca-dog**

**Nanotech0**

**Xazz**


	9. The Palace Mission

**Darker by the Day**

By JakandTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: Slow down Jak and the fat man! I don't own anything!

* * *

Chapter 9

_The Palace Mission_

Her heart slammed hard against her chest. And it wasn't just because she was hundreds of feet in the air swinging from a skinny pole.

She had found her friends. She had found Jak.

Not only was she elated by their reunion, but it also gave her hope for finding her father. If they had all crashed in the same place, and if he had survived, maybe she could find him too.

As she landed on the platform ahead of her, Jak steadied her in his arms. She flashed him a small smile before surveying the next obstacle from the higher platform.

Surely she was dizzy because of the extreme heights. Surely that was it. It definitely wasn't because Jak touched her occasionally with the slightest of touches.

No, that was definitely not it.

Planting her feet, Keira leaned slightly over the edge to confirm the side landings were there. She nearly sighed with frustration.

Getting to the Palace was indeed hell.

As Jak came up behind her, she stood surveying the area ahead with her hands on her hips. "It's gonna be a delayed jump. With the turning platform and the electric floor beyond it, our best hope is to time the jump just right and land on that side platform. The difficult part is not over jumping it."

Jak nodded his head. "Alright. Let's go, Dax!"

"Hold on a minute! I'm the one who's gonna go first." She cracked all her knuckles at once. "I'm more agile than you, so I'll show you how it's done." With a smug grin, she took a moment to get the timing right and got a running start for the rotating platform.

In what seemed to be one fluid motion, Keira landed on the smooth surface of the rotating platform then angled her frontward flip toward the landing below. Her landing was perfect, and she did a flourish with her arms like a gymnast after she landed.

"Show off," he muttered before leaping onto one platform then turning to leap down to her. He landed hard, but steady all the same.

Keira rolled her eyes. "You have no grace. No finesse at all." Securing her gun strap across her shoulder again, she leapt to the higher platform to their left. Her fingerless gloves allowed her an easy grip and she quickly pulled back up.

Then, she froze.

Something in the distance whirred to life, and she was immediately dodging a barrage of bullets. As she jumped back to the lower platform, she ordered them to get down and out of the bullet spray's path.

Keira lay as flat as possible against the cold steel, her arms attempting to protect her head. It took her a moment to realize that everything had gone silent again. Tentatively, she looked up to see the turrets had stopped. Rising to one knee, she analyzed the platform.

"What the hell, Keira!" she heard Jak yell, but his voice was far off to her. Her mind was focused on the obstacle ahead.

"It's on some sort of pressure sensor." Then as if he had never yelled at her in the first place, she turned to him and said, "I'm going to climb along the bottom to disable the automatic sensors. Worse case scenario, even if I fall, you can at least get to the Palace safely."

Jak looked at her with the most severe expression he could manage. "I won't let you do that. We could shoot the pressure sensors. At the very least, we can jump over the line of fire!"

Keira stared back at him with the same severe expression. "We can't risk any of us getting shot. You know that! Those things," she said, gesturing toward the death machines in question, "produce a constant rotation of defense. Besides that, we need to think ahead. The malfunction needs to appear unsuspicious so that it'll take at least few days to make repairs. What if we need to sneak into the Palace again? The races aren't until next week! And that's assuming that you can win the championship."

Jak didn't like it one bit. He had just found Keira, and he wasn't about to let her go hanging hundreds of feet in the air just because of some stupid turrets. By the time she carefully climbed up to the turrets and did whatever she thought she was going to do, she'd be out of strength. Most likely, she'd fall. This wasn't worth killing herself over…

Daxter shifted on his shoulder, and Jak sent a small – albeit evil – smile his way. Daxter was being uncharacteristically quiet. "Let Daxter do it."

Daxter flinched. "Oh, no you don't! Don't count on me to dangle myself sky high above the ground to get to the stupid Palace… where we'll probably be killed anyway! I say we go back."

Jak and Keira glared at him.

"What? What'd I say?"

Keira scoffed. "It doesn't matter. Daxter doesn't know the mechanics. I'm the only one who can do this and not electrocute themselves."

"Keira…"

"It has to be me. I'm not the same little girl, Jak. I'm different." For a moment, she stared at her two friends. Friends she had grown up with. Friends she had shared more with than anyone could understand. "We're all different."

In one smooth movement, she slipped her morph gun strap off her shoulder and over her head. "Hold on to this for me. I won't need it."

Quietly, he took it and watched her rummage through a pack strapped to her belt. She felt the wrench, screwdriver, and wire cutters she needed and snapped the pack closed again. As an afterthought, she smiled. "Don't worry. I probably won't fall. I've got more tricks up my sleeve than I used to."

She said it to reassure them, but she couldn't guarantee there was much truth to it.

"I'll say!" Daxter chimed in, referring more to her rounder curves than to her improved skills.

Keira, who usually was irritated by his lewd remarks and shamelessness, gave him a playful wink before jumping to grab the edge of the platform ahead once again.

Jak stared after her. She really had changed.

Daxter shifted on his shoulder and leaned in such a way that his little orange elbow propped against the top of his friend's head. "Don't worry, Jak," he said. "If anybody can pull this off, it's Keira."

"She had better," Jak grumbled back.

Keira climbed along the underside of the platform in the quickest way she knew how to. The _one_ time she could really make use of a harness, she didn't have one.

In what seemed like an eternity, she finally made it to the end of the multi-level platform. Bracing herself with her legs, she freed her hands and reached into her tool pack behind her. She was especially careful to factor in gravity and not drop any of her precious tools. There was so little light that she was glad for the small flashlight she had packed.

Above her head were the rotating turrets, and right before her eyes was the plate she needed to remove to disable them. With the right tools in deft hands and the flashlight in her mouth, she easily released the bolts and removed the panel. In a manner of seconds, she had yanked and snipped at an arrangement of wires that she hoped would disable the deadly guns for a few days.

With the panel still balancing in her bare stomach, she removed the flashlight from her mouth and called, "Try it now!"

She heard the heavy footsteps gain speed on the platform without the interference of bullet spray. But before she could celebrate, a strong gust of wind caught her sideways. Her legs, already weakened from the strain of supporting most of her body weight for so long a time, buckled under the added pressure and her footing failed her.

With quick reflexes, her arms swung out for something to grab, tools and the balancing panel forgotten. Her grip caught a metal support of some kind, but it too failed her.

Keira was falling. Her heart, her stomach, everything rose in her throat as inertia disoriented her senses. She couldn't scream. She couldn't do anything.

Then just as suddenly as she started to fall she stopped again. Still disoriented, she looked at the ground and noticed that it wasn't coming any closer. It was still as far away as when she started to fall.

She felt Jak squeeze her hand. "Keira! Are you okay?"

Her eyes left the ground and moved upward to loook at Jak. He held her by the hand, his other gripping fiercely at the platform's ledge. Slowly, he pulled her up until she could grab onto his waist.

As her grasp moved upward to his shoulders, his free arm snaked around her waist. His faced inched toward hers, and as she noticed, her eyes grew large. But his lips moved past her cheek and moved back to her ear.

In a low voice that was full of confidence and something else she didn't quite recognize, he said, "I need you… to hold on to me so I can pull us both up."

At that, she frowned. Her face moved away from his, and if they had been on solid ground, she would have pushed him away from her.

Keira Hagai needed no one to rescue her like a damsel in distress. She may have been in momentary distress, but she'd be damned if she was ever anything that resembled a damsel.

"I'll pull myself up, thank you," she said. Roughly, she pushed against his shoulders, and with a foot against his hip, pushed herself up to grab onto the edge of the platform. Then, with as much dignity as she could muster, she pulled herself up and over the edge.

As Jak stood, she held out her hand. "I would like my gun back now."

Without so much as another word, Jak returned Keira's gun. She slung the strap over her head and jumped over the disabled turrets and to the scaffolds along the Palace wall.

As they set foot outside the throne room, Keira halted their steps with a wave of her arm. She motioned for complete silence and kept low as she approached the glass ceiling. As her head peaked over the glass, a sudden 'plink' broke the silence. Followed by another. And another. Soon, a downpour showered them and made the image below wavy with small streams of water.

Great… just what they didn't need. Rain.

Keira wondered what she had done to make the Precursors hate her so much.

She looked sideways at Jak, Daxter peering over his shoulder at the scene below.

Well… perhaps the Precursors didn't hate her as much as she thought.

Keira's attention was brought back to the conversation below at the mention of a familiar name. "Move forward with the plan! Tell Ashelin to up her patrols. I want that tomb found!" Praxis ordered.

"But your daughter has not been... agreeable," Erol argued easily.

"Ashelin is the Baron's daughter?"

The surprise in Jak's voice directed her attention back to him. With surprise of her own she asked, "You know Ashelin?"

"Oh, yeah!" Daxter piped up, only two have his two friends shush him. "Gorgeous, red hair, sassy attitude, huge… ah, guns," he said more quietly.

Keira looked at Jak, but he was looking everywhere but at her. She hated to admit it, but she couldn't help but be a little jealous.

"If you spent as much time looking for the little brat as you spend flirting with that mechanic girl we would have pinned his royal ass to the wall long ago!"

Her eyes widened. _Where the hell had _that_ come from? Why had he said _that_ of all things?_

Their roles completely reversed. As Keira avoided Jak's gaze, jealously raged within him. He might have yelled at her – the Baron be damned – if Daxter hadn't made a strange sound.

The little ottsel was taking short gasps of air, and his eyes were half lidded. No doubt, he was going to sneeze. He was going to blow their cover. With just the three of them, they would have their asses handed to them.

"Don't you dare," Keira said in a low tone, having the exact same thoughts as Jak.

They both relaxed as Daxter returned to normal. But a second later, the sneeze returned full force and Jak was too late to muffle it with his hand.

Their cover was blown. The only thing they could do was flatten themselves against the metal structure of the roof and hope to the powers that be that they weren't discovered.

All three of them held their breath and strained their ears for sounds below that would tell them they were either safe or doomed to hell.

As they heard the doors to the throne room open and close again, it appeared that they were safe. Each breathed a sigh of relief.

Jak and Keira glared at Daxter, who released himself from Jak's grip and brushed himself off. "Ah… my bad. But relax. We didn't get caught or nothin'. No harm, no foul, right amigos? …. Right?"

Keira eventually let her glare fade, and sighed in defeat. "I guess you're right. Come on, you two. We need to find a way out of here before we find trouble."

But as luck would have it, they hadn't taken ten steps from where they had stood when trouble found them. Trouble in the form of Baron Praxis.

It figured. If getting to the Palace was hell, leaving was going to be worse hell.

"So, we have a rat in the walls, do we? A rat and his boy, it seems. Back for a few more Dark Eco treatments? And look… you brought your girlfriend along too. How nice. Well, allow me to put you all out of your misery!"

"Move!" Keira barked, and they rolled out of the line of fire as quickly as they could. They both came up on one knee and drew their weapons in a flash.

With a quick nod to each other, a silent plan was formed. As Jak laid cover fire, Keira moved against one of the columns at the ledge. Adrenaline rushed through her and went into overdrive as she knew it was almost her turn to attack. But as she peeked around the column to affirm the Baron's position, a rogue bullet nearly hit her face.

"Damn it, Jak! Don't hit the glass! The bullets ricochet." As she pressed her back to the column and prepared herself again, a blue hue caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Their escape was blocked by an electric security gate. Even if they somehow defeated the Baron or got away from him, there was no way out. The guards would be coming soon. They had to do something fast.

If only they could break through the gate…. Then it hit her. Of course! "Jak! Aim for the guns! If we can push him back, we might have a way out of here." It was brilliant. They could use the Baron and his hunk of junk to break through his own defense.

She looked at Jak, who was releasing a rather random spray of bullets toward the Baron. She could see his ammo cartridge from where she was. He'd be out soon. Changing strategies, she checked her own cartridge. Luckily, she'd be ready to take over while he went for the spare crates of ammo in the corner.

So it had been the Baron who had intercepted their shipment of ammo, probably in attempts to either copy or make a defense for her Morph Gun. For him to just leave the ammunition lying around sure was stupid on his part. But it was his loss and their gain.

In a rather wry thought, she wondered if she should send him a Thank You card.

Jak's gun made a whirring sound that signaled he was out of bullets. Keira jumped into action, but the Baron moved before she could fire a single round. His octopus-like machine hovered over the gate and gained a blue hue. He was charging it using the electricity in the gate!

"Keira!" she heard Jak yell from across the way. He was holding up a full cartridge of ammo.

A shifting sound from the large machine diverted her attention.

"Don't need it!" she called as she fired with amazing precision at the Baron's guns even as he moved through the air to take his position. Before he could return fire, Keira had already disabled one gun. She took cover behind the pillar again to avoid the barrage of fire, then worked at disabling the other gun as he changed positions again.

The battle was long and slow-moving, but Keira and Jak, and even Daxter at times, were managing. After the guns, they had had to dodge a shower of heat-seeking missiles, and now they were avoiding some sort of spinning fiery attacks. These attacks were faster, and it was a bitch trying to avoid them and fire at the Baron at the same time.

The incessant rain and the darkness didn't make it any easier.

The shallow wound in her right shoulder and the bits of graphite debris lodged in her left leg weren't much help either. And she was pretty sure that her forearms were singed from those aggravating spiral attacks. But Jak, having more serious wounds, needed the health pack they had found worse that she did.

She would fight through the pain, and they would defeat the Baron. They had to.

And with a strategy where Jak and Keira fired simultaneously until the last possible moment, avoided the fire attacks and the Baron's charges, then started the process all over again, they finally damaged his machine enough that it came to pieces.

Unfortunately, it didn't come apart in too many pieces, for the Baron's pod was still intact, allowing for his escape.

"The dark powers I gave you can't protect you forever! Since I made you, I can destroy you!" His attention shifted to Keira. "And you! I don't know who you are, but you _will _be found eventually. And when you are, you'll die a slow and very painful death. We'll meet again soon!"

As the Baron flew off in his puttering contraption, they all stood watching from the steep ledge overlooking the city. Daxter scoffed and waved his hand in the direction the Baron had fled. "Yeah... whatever. Bye bye!"

Keira wanted to cry with relief – and pain. It was over… for the time being. "Come on. I expected the guard to be here by now. But just because they aren't here now doesn't mean they're not coming."

"Here," Jak said, offering his hand to help her to the higher level. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I've had worse… believe me." But even as she said it, she limped on her hurt leg and cradled her right arm. She tried not to lean on him as the elevator rushed downward.

As the door opened, revealing a short hallway and a large entry room, she drew her laser pistol from its place at her hip. Carefully, she moved ahead of her friends to make sure the room was clear. Wary, but satisfied they were alone, she holstered her weapon.

"It looks like we're alone. Let's go," she said.

Jak gently picked Daxter up by the scruff of his neck and set him on the ground, letting him walk on his own. At his friend's confused look, he gave Dax a sly wink. And without words, Daxter understood.

The door to Haven City opened and Daxter leapt out first. Keira stepped out next, but a careful hand on her good arm pulled her back inside.

Before she could blink, her back was pressed against the wall and his arms wrapped around her. For one intense moment, they just stared at each other. And then the next, his lips descended onto hers.

Too tired and beyond elated, Keira relaxed her weight into his arms. One wrapped around her waist and pulled her close and the other cradled her head while his thumb sweetly stroked her cheek.

She was wounded, dirty, sweaty, and most likely in horrible disarray, but Jak was holding her, kissing her. It was nice to be kissed again. Kissed with feeling.

There was something charming about the way he kissed her. It wasn't a sweet kiss. It was eager, but not sloppy, like a hungry man but one who knew what he was doing.

She had kissed several other men in the last two years. And all of them had been business. It had been her job.

But this… this made her toes curl and her heart turn with unabated emotion. This made her kiss back with an eagerness equal to his. She held on to the back of his neck with her good arm. It was awkward, but it was good. So good that she almost whimpered as he pulled back.

Jak came away from the kiss breathless. He had wanted to kiss her ever since the Baron had run away with his tail between his legs. He should have waited until they were on safe ground, but he had been too long away from her. He had missed her. He had missed her kiss, her touch, to the point where he couldn't just wait anymore.

And the kiss had been more than he expected. He expected her rejection, or at least some hesitation. He wasn't who he used to be anymore, and he didn't expect her to just accept the changes with open arms. But then again, she wasn't who she used to be anymore either. She had handled the gun and the heat of the battle possibly better than even Ashelin. Or maybe it was that they simply made a great team. Either way, he wanted her now more than he had ever wanted her before.

He rested his forehead against hers, and just held her. Right now he didn't care about the darkness that threatened to take over his senses. He didn't care that the Baron had got away. They had won. It was a small victory, but it was a victory nonetheless.

"Keira…" He kissed her again. A small, gentle buss on the lips.

"Jak…" she tried to say, but he kissed her again. "We have to go. We have to update Torn about the Baron's plans."

"And then I have to go to the Bazaar. I'm supposed to meet some blind–"

"You're going to meet Onin? Do you have a–"

"Ashelin gave me her access pass."

That small twinge of jealousy made itself known again. It must have shown on her face, because Jak smiled in that confident way he now seemed to have. "Keira, Keira," he tisked and kissed her again. "If I wanted Ashelin, would I be kissing her or you?"

Her eyes shifted sideways to the blinking lights of some sort of control board. Why they would have them in the Palace entry room was beyond her. "I suppose not," she answered.

"If you are interested in Erol, too bad. I don't want you flirting with him."

She almost laughed in his face. Interested in Erol? Not when she wretched every time he touched her or looked at her with that leering stare that undressed her with his eyes.

"Too bad," she said. Then, at his serious frown, she added, "I would rather run a hot poker through my eye than flirt with him, or even be near him. But it's my job. So far, it's the only way that I'm able to get information out of him. And now that we know he and the Baron are planning something, it's even more important that I find out exactly what."

Jak sneered at the mere thought of it.

"Don't worry. I've done this sort of thing before. I can handle myself." With a sly grin, she maneuvered so she could bit and suckle at his ear. "After all this, we have earned a break for ourselves. And I promise to finish what we've started."

She moved away from his ear to kiss him again, but light noises sounded from the other side of the door. "Move it, you two!" came Daxter's muffled yell. "Someone sounded the alarm. We gotta get outta here!"

Keira quickly untangled herself from Jak's arms and rushed out the door, weapons drawn.

* * *

Yay! It's finished! Sorry this one took longer, but the summer semester started. Fortunately, it's not a lot of reading so far, and I still have a lot of time to write. So I think we can expect a few updates this summer. This chapter was also slow-going because I was trying to start yet another fic. But Angel04 reminded me that I still have fans waiting, so I hurried to finish it. And 48 hours later, here it is:D

Sometimes I just need a bit of encouragement to get me going. ;)

Oh... and sorry if it got a bit choppy in the middle. It seems like I'm shifting to a new style, but I haven't perfected it yet. Bear with me!

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A special thanks to all my reviewers!

**Angel04**

**GundamWingFanatic90**

**Jaklover123**

**LadyJuuromaru**

**Mecca-dog**

**Mysterious Prophetess **

**Tess**

**Xazz**


	10. Catching Up

**Darker by the Day**

By JakandTornSweetheart

Disclaimer: Jak says "have a nice day," Jak says, "I can't think on my own," Jak says, "JATS doesn't own anything, Jak says, "Go bite yourself!"

**The second part of this chapter has been revamped! Please read!!**

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Chapter 10

_Catching Up_

Jak, Daxter, and Keira walked into the Underground hideout completely exhausted. After all the hell they went through at the Palace, they also had to outrun and outdrive the KG all the way to the Slums.

With Keira's directions and Jak's driving, their clever maneuvers through the maze of roads in the Slums allowed for their escape… barely.

But even when they were safe in the alleyway that led to the hideout, Keira refused Jak's insistence on carrying her. She didn't need to be babied like a little girl who had scraped her knee. She was a grown-ass woman who could handle herself. And she could certainly walk down a few steps on her own two feet.

As the inner door to the hideout opened and she saw Torn's face, she almost ran right back out the door. He was mad. Really mad.

No… Torn was absolutely _livid_.

Torn had been seething behind the table at the hideout ever since he received the reports from one of the lower-ranked Krimzon Guards he had working for him. When he heard the outer door open, he began to mentally prepare the long angry speech they all had coming to them.

Then the door in front of him slid open, and one look at Keira made his words fail him. But just as quickly as his anger had left him, it returned full force.

"What the hell'd you do?!" he shouted at all of them, even though he kept a solid eye on Keira's battered form. With two strides of his long legs, he went to Keira's bed and pulled out the emergency kit from underneath it. Placing the heavy case on the mattress, he knelt in front of it.

"Us? Nothing... we've been, uh... sightseeing. Right, Jak? Keira?" Daxter said as he hopped up on the table and pretended to understand the papers strewn atop it. He knew anyone could see right through that lie, but it was worth a try.

As Keira tucked the bunk's veil under the mattress of the top bunk and sank down onto the mattress beside the case, Torn flipped it open and rummaged through layers of supplies until he found the health pack. He tossed it on the bed and slammed the case shut.

"I need the tweezers out of that," Keira said in a low voice before he could shove the case under the bed. She didn't want to say anything to him at all, but she really didn't want to have to dig the case back out herself.

Torn wanted to yell and scream and roar. He seriously wanted to just lose it because Keira had deliberately gone out of her way to hide this from him. And now she was hurt. It was easy to fix, but still. It hurt him to see her hurt.

It also made him very angry. When everything she needed was out of the case, he put it away. With a glance at Daxter, he said, "Really? Then why are the Krimzon Guard looking for-" He paused and removed a slip of paper from his pocket, then read the words that were in his own handwriting. "… a dangerous young man with light hair, blue tunic, and a rabid orange _rat_ on his shoulder?"

Daxter flinched. "Heh… could be anybody. Orange is the new black this season." He smiled a wide smile that was completely fake, hoping no one would see through it.

Torn's gaze fell hard on Keira. He didn't even need the paper to finish. "His partner is a tall, skinny female with green hair, white tank top, and black jacket."

Keira visibly shrank back. He was looking at her with that disappointed look in his eyes. She hated for him to be disappointed in her. She preferred mad. She could handle mad. Disappointment only made her feel bad about herself.

"Look..." Jak chimed in, "we climbed up to the Baron's Palace and -"

"We tripped a few alarms," Keira finished. If Torn had known what had really gone on, she'd lose all the missions she now had the opportunity to work on.

"What? I didn't authorize a strike on the -"

"Hey, we kicked the Baron's ass," Jak said. "Unfortunately, he escaped."

_Shit_… her cover was completely blown. So much for her missions…

Torn's eyes widened and settled back on Keira. "You went up against the _Baron_?"

"Lay off her!" Jak yelled. "Keira kicked ass back there too. I've never seen a woman so good with a gun. Under pressure and a lot of fire, she came up with a damned good plan and got us out of there. It's my fault that's she's still hurt, so don't be mad at her for this. Be mad at me."

"I _am_ mad at you!" he yelled back. Right then, Torn decided that he would have to have a long session at the gun course before he worked out all this anger. He could handle attitude, and he could handle failure or incompetence, though it was hard. But one thing he could not handle was someone going behind his back.

They had all gone behind his back. Jak he might expect this from, but not Keira.

"Relax, Tats," Daxter called from across the room. "It was worth it. We overheard a secret meeting with leader of the Metal Heads!"

"You saw the Metal Head leader?" Kor asked, fiercely trying to hide his sudden sense of panic. He hoped it came across as surprise, or interest, or something other than panic.

Keira's head jerked up in his general direction. Had he been there the whole time? She hadn't noticed until then.

The child was with him too, reaching his little hand out to Daxter as if he wanted to touch him but was afraid to do so at the same time. She would have smiled if she wasn't in so much pain. The kid had always made her smile for some reason. It was a pity that he had to spend most of his time with that grumpwad, Kor.

The way Kor had asked the question put her on edge. He never seemed to say exactly what he meant. And Keira had always felt that there was something oddly familiar about him. Yet, for over a year, she hadn't figured out exactly what that something was. She was convinced that it was probably something that she didn't want to remember, so she left it alone.

Still, Keira had decided that Kor wasn't someone to be trusted. But he seemed to hate the Baron well enough. And that was all that really mattered right now.

As Daxter explained the Baron's plans, Torn looked at Keira for confirmation, and she nodded her head. She mouthed the word 'later' and turned her attention back to the others. But as Torn started to examine her leg, she flinched and tried not to cry out in pain. He flashed an apologetic expression her way, and went back to her leg.

That is, until an angry voice interrupted him. "Why didn't you tell me that Ashelin was Praxis' daughter? What's your connection with her?" Jak asked in a low tone.

Keira looked at Jak incredulously, as if he was crazy for asking such a thing. This was Torn they were talking about. Torn was the last person Jak should be suspicious about.

He didn't seem to notice her look at all.

Torn nearly lost it. "That's none of your business!" _The missions, Torn,_ he told himself. _Think of the missions. Think of the people._ "Since you've stirred up the wumpbee's nest, you and whiskers over there get to move four of our people to new safe houses. Shuttle each agent to a location _they_ specify. Move all of them without any casualties. Try not to screw this one up, Jak!"

Fighting off his anger, Jak lightly put his hand on Keira's shoulder. Subtly, she touched his hand with hers, and nodded, giving him a look that meant she would definitely see him later.

Removing his hand from Keira's shoulder, he motioned to Daxter with a jerk of his head and walked to the door. Before he could reach it, Dax was on his shoulder again.

"I supposed I should be going too. Come along, boy," Kor said and escorted the kid from the hideout. "I'd watch that one, if I were you, Torn." And without waiting for a reply, Kor left.

But what Kor said was the very last thing on his mind. "What the hell was that?" he asked Keira when they were alone.

Keira grabbed the material of her pants and used it to move her leg up onto the bed, her back resting against the support rail at the foot of her bunk. Now that she was in the haven of the hideout and alone with Torn, she relaxed and let go of her tough exterior. Her breath came in hard pants from the pain. She tried not to moan, but it was hard. At least the breathing helped some.

"Torn, just get this shit out of my leg so I can take the damn health pack!" After that, she finally did moan, and rested her head against the metal of the support rail, eyes screwed shut. Getting shot was most definitely not fun.

Leaning over her, Torn supported her with a hand on her back as he helped remove her jacket. The right side he ripped off with a jerk, the blood having adhered it to her wound. She made a sound, but didn't shout. The wound reopened, and he quickly left to get a towel to press on it.

For one brief moment, she was completely alone. Alone and in pain was about the worst situation one could be in, she realized. She began to wonder if Torn was ever going to come back. In her state, a second was like an hour.

Finally, he returned to her side and quickly put pressure on the wound with the towel. As he did, he noticed that half her shirt was stained with blood, both dried and fresh.

"You're lucky it was shallow, or you would have bled to death," he said in a surprisingly impassive tone.

"Torn –"

"Stop it. I don't want to hear it." _You don't know what it does to me to see you like this_, he wanted to say, but didn't dare. He pulled an unmarked crate over to the side of her bed to sit on, then ripped her pants down the side and went to work removing the projectiles from her leg. There were only half a dozen, but they were all deep.

"Are you two… together?" he asked as he worked the first bit of stone out of her leg.

She winced, both from the tweezers in her leg and from his sudden question. Though, she was sort of glad for a distraction from the pain. She didn't know if he asked to distract her or because he disapproved. Maybe both.

"It's not what you think," she answered.

Torn raised an eyebrow, but didn't look in her direction. He concentrated on what he was doing.

"I mean… it is what you think, but it's not – " She stopped and sighed.

"Keira, you're not making sense."

She chuckled bitterly. "I know. None of this makes sense." She yelped as he grabbed on to the first bit of stone and yanked it free.

When she got control of her breathing again, she continued. "Do you remember when I told you about the guy I used to be with? The guy that I was with back in Sandover? The guy I lost when we came through the rift?"

"Yeah… I think so. Why?"

"Jak… It was Jak. He's the man that I was with."

Torn fought the urge to drop his jaw, and won. He settled for an expressionless face as he removed another piece from her leg. He would think about what all this meant later. Definitely not now. Not in front of her. "He doesn't seem at all like you said."

"He's – " she grunted as she tugged a third bit free from her leg. "He's different. I don't know how or why, but he's completely different than the Jak I used to know." At that point, she was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't feel the pain of him ripped another bit free from its wound. Almost.

"Isn't that a problem, then?" Torn asked.

She gave the best smile she could, which was a horrible excuse for one. "I still love him. He's still Jak. I've changed a lot too, and he doesn't seem to mind so much. There's no sense in not trying, right?"

At that, Torn half-grunted. He knew first-hand that trying to work through drastic changes in a relationship was no easy thing. As far as he could tell, he and Ashelin were still together, but he was less sure every day.

"Torn, you need to keep a closer eye on Ashelin," she said seriously.

It was funny how Keira could read him so well. It was like she knew what he was thinking all the time.

"Why? Has something happened to her that I don't know about?" Then, "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt." He gripped the shard of metal and twisted it sharply to force it out of her leg.

He mentally braced his ears against her cry of pain. He had heard the expression 'this hurts me more than it hurts you,' and thought it was nothing but sarcasm. But as he saw Keira try to bite back the tears that welled in her eyes, he got a feeling for where it had started. If he was feeling this much pain over this, he knew how much it hurt her.

"Bullet fragment," he said simply as he showed her the bit of metal doused with her own blood.

He placed it in the palm of her hand and went to removing the last piece. She waited until he had removed the last piece before ripping open the heath pack and absorbing it quickly.

The warm, healing energy of green eco surged through her. Cells regenerated an incredible speed and muscles repaired themselves from the inside out. When it was all done, she felt soothed and whole again.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much."

Torn moved to get up, but Keira stopped him with a firm hand on his arm. "Torn, look at me." And with a slight look of surprise, he did as she said to find a stern expression on her face.

She looked into those eyes that were so much like her second father's. "Ashelin could be in real trouble. You need to look out for her."

Worry pooled low in his gut. "What do you know?"

"When we overheard the Baron talking about his plans, he seemed really desperate about finding Mar's Tomb. He's got Ashelin working on it, but from the way he talked, she seems to be not cooperating like he wants. He said he would see to her resistance 'one way or another.' Those were his exact words."

"I see," he said, thinking. This meant Ashelin was in deep shit. It was one thing to be a double agent in any situation. It was another thing entirely to be playing both sides of a war, your father on one side and the man you love on the other. He had to protect Ashelin any way he could. "We'll sever communications with her for a while. We can't afford anyone being suspicious of her at this point. It won't be hard for her to act extra loyal to her father. Sometimes, with Ashelin, blood is thicker than water."

Keira frowned thoughtfully. "Torn, are you and Ashelin having problems again?"

As soon as she said it, he stood and moved the crate back against the wall with a twist of his foot. He returned to his usual place behind his table of maps and missions. As for her question, he intended to avoid it completely. Keira was the last person he needed to be concerned about his love life.

"I need to send someone to Dead Town to thin out the Metal Heads. That thing in Samos's hut is attracting them again. We don't need a repeat of last time. You up for it?"

"I am… but send Jak instead." She remained on her bunk, her elbows resting on her knees.

Torn glanced at her, and saw entirely too much. Her hair was messy, her clothes were torn in certain places, and her white tank was now half red. Even this disheveled she looked… well, it shouldn't concern him at all how she looked. It didn't concern him. Not at all.

"Why Jak?"

At this, she gave a small sigh. "I don't think he knows the whole truth about what Haven City is. Or where it is. Or even when it is. I don't know how to tell him. Hell, I'm not sure I _can_ tell him. If he goes, he'll find out on his own."

"That's unlike you."

"Well… things are different with him. What would you do if you were me? You know how hard it was for me seeing it for the first time… and I knew it was the future already. We just found each other again. I can't tell him something like that. So… what would you do if you were me?"

The corners of his mouth turned upward, but it wasn't really a smirk and it wasn't really a smile. "I'd send Jak to Dead Town."

Keira's smile was smug. "That's what I thought," she said. With a yawn, she yanked down the tattered veil and stretched out on her bed, her back to him. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to catch a few hours sleep before I have to go back to the garage."

_

* * *

Sleep while you can. Soon, I'll be coming for you… eco freak!_

Jak woke suddenly to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling. He expected his heart to be pumping faster or his breath to be harder, but found himself in an odd and rare sense of calm.

Why did he feel so safe here? Where was here?

"It's about time you woke up. It'll be daylight soon. When was the last time you actually slept?"

He almost smiled at the sound of her voice. Everything came back to him then. He stretched his pleasantly sore muscles and sat up on the creaky mattress.

He was in Keira's apartment. Well… it wasn't really her apartment. The barren room that was used for Underground emergency situations – it was just across the alley, after all – was only where Keira liked to be when she wasn't at headquarters.

The room was small, barren, dusty and unkempt. Nothing he would ever associate with Keira. A cooler and sink made up the kitchen in the corner opposite from the bed he now sat up in. The far wall held the entrance and was dotted with either holes or worn wallpaper. The wall behind him was the same and was one long row of window after window, letting in the soft lights of the city as they bounced off the opposite side of the alley.

Keira, one of the only good things in his life, sat with her back to him on one of the large window sills in nothing but her tank top and underwear. His modest little Keira was gone, probably for good.

Not that he minded. The view happened to be infinitely better.

He stretched again and wrapped the sheet around his waist as he stood. "How long was I out?"

"Hours. I don't really know. I haven't been up long myself," she said and looked up at him when he moved into her line of vision.

"So that 'it's about time' stuff was just bullshit then?" he asked and gave her a small kiss on the mouth.

"Well… someone has to talk down to you every once in a while. It does you good."

"I'd say I've been talked down to more than my share."

At that, Keira shifted uncomfortably and went back to starting out the window. "I left you a drink in the cooler."

"Not thirsty," he said and leaned his hip on the wall and faced her. "You can see the hideout from here."

Keira smiled. "That's the point. Never far from home."

She winced. Apparently, she was eating foot for breakfast.

Her words brought Jak back to the events of today. Of realizing where they were, and when they were. Finding Samos, although he was different somehow. So much all at once.

Didn't she know about him?

"We met your father today."

"Jak… he's not my father."

He noticed that her voice held a hint of sadness. "What do you mean? He's Samos. Same name, same hair, same… sagely presence," he added sarcastically.

"That man is not my father, but he's Samos… somehow. That's the one thing I don't really understand about all this. He's so much like my father, but he's not the same person at all. He doesn't remember anything about Sandover, or you, or Daxter, or… or even me.

"Daddy's still out there somewhere. Now that I've found you and Daxter, I'm guessing he landed somewhere in Haven too. If he's still alive… if we could just find him…"

"He's still alive, Keira. No matter what's happened these last two years, I know he found some way to survive. He is a sage, after all."

"Yeah." Keira attempted to look comforted, though she wasn't in the least.

So she did know. She knew everything. And she hadn't said a word. She said nothing and let him realize it all on his own. How could she do that to him?

"You knew, didn't you? About where we were. And you didn't tell me," he said with a slight edge to his tone.

"It's not like you think it is. I mean, it's true I didn't tell you. But I did try."

"Did you now? When? When you had a gun pointed at my head? Or was it when you were all over me when we left the Palace? Did you _really_ try, Keira?"

"Yes! I did try! And just so you know, I didn't know you were you when I drew my gun and _you_ were the one all over _me_ when we left the Palace. Don't try to blame things on me just because you're in a pissy mood."

"Shouldn't I be pissed? We were together for a whole night and I didn't even get a, 'Oh, by the way, this hellhole IS Sandover, only we're about half a millennia in the future!' Didn't I deserve at least that?"

"I wanted to tell you, Jak. I did. But every time I tried to put the words together in my head, all I could think about was how it felt when I saw it for the first time. My home. Sitting there where I could see it but not reach it. I couldn't bear to see that look on your face. The look I had on my face."

Jak stood there for a minute in silence. It hadn't dawned on him that Keira was in the same boat as him. Stranded in a strange place. Away from their home. Fighting a war that was theirs and yet not theirs. She just didn't want to see him hurt. He supposed that he would have done the same thing had it been the other way around. They felt and did the same things a lot of the time.

After a moment of thought, he said, "That's why you built the JET-Board… isn't it?"

She gave a wry smile and a half-hearted laugh. "That's why I built the JET-Board. First, I built the Titan Suit, but it would just lock up and sink in the toxic mud. I thought if I built something smaller, something that could hover over it, maybe I could get up there somehow. Climb up one of the supports or something. I could see my old room again, ya know?"

She stopped when she realized she was probably rambling. He was standing there just looking at her, expressionless. He was probably irritated that she was going on and on about nothing. Old habits died hard.

"That's why I didn't tell you. Because I knew how it felt. It doesn't really matter now, does it?"

"Keira." The seriousness in his tone got her full attention. She looked at him and found an unfamiliar dark edge to his stare. "You and Daxter are the only two people I can trust here. But I can't trust you if you continue to keep things from me."

She turned so she sat on the edge of the window sill with his hips between her legs. Instinctively, he stepped into her more. Her warmth was a solace.

"You can trust me, with anything. There's nothing else I have to hide from you. If it will make you feel better, you can ask me anything and I'll give you an honest answer. No conditions. Anything at all."

Jak didn't have to think of a question, because deep down he knew there was no real reason to distrust her. Besides… there was something that he had been wondering since he discovered who she was.

"Why are you fighting for the Underground?"

"Easy. Because the Baron's a tyrannical asshole."

"Don't give me that. None of us are fighting this uphill battle just for the hell of it. We all have a personal motive. What's yours?"

She didn't want to tell him. He could tell by the way her eyes shifted to the right and her teeth tugged at her bottom lip. But she owed him at least this, and she would tell him the truth… the whole truth. Whether she was ready to or not.

"Well… you know Dead Town, right?" she asked.

He nodded, somewhat confused as to how that was relevant.

"It wasn't always called that. It wasn't always in ruin. It used to be part of the Slums, the nicer part. But the majority of the people there opposed the Baron, so it was walled off. Walled off and marked for death."

She stopped, staring blindly at his bare chest, seeing and not seeing. He looked down at her and paid not much mind at all to her tormented expression. To be completely honest with himself, he was almost a relief that someone else he knew had gone through an ordeal. It made him feel not so alone anymore. Although, he did hate that it had to be Keira.

The old Jak would have sat down next to her, wrapped her in his arms, anything to comfort her. But he wasn't that man anymore. And he would never be that man again. She needed to get used to that.

"Go on," he prompted, trying not to be too harsh.

"After the crash… after we came through the rift, I was unconscious for about the first week or so. I smashed straight through a ceiling and somehow survived. I was given an emergency supply of green eco and another shipment of eco when I woke up… in excruciating pain.

"The couple who took me in, the same couple whose house I almost destroyed, I lived with them for a while. In the first day I found out that I was in the future, which was shocking enough. Then, after I was finally getting comfortable with everything, getting attached to the couple who took me in, the Metal Head attack happened… all thanks to the Baron. God, I'd like to rip his head off!"

In his usual fashion, Jak kept quiet and let her finish.

"I had left earlier that afternoon to run an errand, and wasn't there when it happened. I didn't get to see them again… alive anyway. I didn't get to see anybody I had come to know alive again."

She cleared her throat and continued.

"I tried to get back in to save them, save anyone, after they had closed off the area… while the attack was still going on. Both me and Torn did, but I didn't know him then. Erol held us both off. I don't know where Torn went, but I got thrown in a cell. Torn saved me that day… in more ways than one. He's like my big brother, you know. You should lay off him. He's one of the only people in this town that you can trust… besides me and Daxter."

"Why the hell should I trust him?" Jak asked.

"Because! He's invested in this fight just as much as me or you. He lost his parents in the attack on Dead Town, same as me. He's the one who started the Underground with me and Samos."

Ah yes, Samos. There was a reason for telling him all this. Keira paused and leaned back with her arms crossed, thinking for a second.

"When we went back to salvage what little we could, and to lay all the bodies to rest, that's when I saw it. The hut. For the first time. I knew it was the future, the distant future. But it hadn't occurred to me until that moment that it was _our_ future. My home was just sitting there, out of reach. Old, worn, and barren. I can't tell you how I felt, but you know now without me having it say it.

So can you understand now why I couldn't tell you?"

Jak turned things over in his mind for a while. She had a pretty good reason, but it was still no excuse for not being up front with him. On the other hand, this was the only time that something like this had happened with her. She probably thought it was unfair of him to lose his trust in her over one slip.

But he just wasn't forgiving as he used to be. He wasn't that person anymore.

The silence between them went on until she asked, "Where were you?"

She stared at him, bare chest, sheet around his waist, hands on hips, staring off into space. He looked like a Roman god.

Said god stirred from his train of thought and brought his eyes back to her. "What'd you say?"

"I asked you where you were?"

He stared at her blankly, unmoving and unthinking.

"During the two years-"

"I know what you meant," he bit out.

"So-"

"So don't ask me."

"But I just told you what happened to me. I opened up to you! You know-"

"Keira!"

At that, he expected her to be hurt and cry a little, but instead she tensed and crossed her arms and stretched her legs out on the sill. She had completely cut him off. The warmth was gone. And who could blame her? The situation was unfair to her in nearly every way.

But who could blame him either? He couldn't tell her what had happened to him in that cell, in that chair for two years. Day after day seemed like decade after decade. He had been in there two years but came out 30 years older, it seemed. No… he didn't even like thinking about it. How could he possibly tell her? Perhaps a short answer would do.

"I was in prison."

"Since when?"

"Since I got here. The whole two years."

"Jak…"

"Don't. Just… just don't.

"Jak," he heard her say again, and her arms were around him before he could blink.

Keira felt absolutely awful. She thought she had been through some great ordeal, but Jak had really been through hell. Hell with a capital H. Her skin still crawled when she remembered her short-lived stay at the prison. To spend two whole years there was….

She wanted to take it all back. To somehow rewind time and fix everything. To erase his hurt. To make things like they used to be. So she did the only thing she could. She hugged him. It didn't matter if he hugged her back. She just wanted to touch him, to hold him. To feel his skin against hers and for him to feel it too. And when she felt his arms gently curve around her, she squeezed him harder.

As soon as she had embraced him, Jak felt more at ease. Her touch did so much for him, and he wondered if she even knew. When her embrace tightened, so did his. This is what he had missed for far too long. Maybe he would eventually forget about pain, about torture, if he could overshadow all that darkness with light.

Ever so slowly, he tilted her chin up and kissed her. Things gave way to passion way too fast, and soon he was carrying her back to the bed, their lips still intertwined and searching for something they wanted back more than they had ever wanted anything. Their conversation, the anger and frustration, was all forgotten, and the only thing that remained was their burning desire for each other. No one else in the world existed right then.

As her back hit the cool sheets and he started to tug at her clothes, she pulled back suddenly and looked out the window. "It's going to be daylight soon. We have to report in-"

He silenced her with another heated kiss, smirking at her when he pulled back. "Reports can wait. We have a lot of catching up to do."

As he looked down at her, he realized he was happier now than he had been since their first night together. The dinner, the star-gazing, the love-making. Things were so much simpler then. He smiled more as she tried in vain to cover herself up even as he tried to undress her. She was still so incredibly modest even though she had one of the hottest bodies he'd ever seen. Perhaps his shy little Keira was still around a bit.

"Yes… a lot of catching up indeed," she agreed with a grin and pulled him down on top of her.

* * *

So… hopefully this chapter was a lot better than the last one. This is my kind of action! Lol. I will eventually getting around to writing the lemon part of this. Both for this chapter and for chapter two. But until then, all you have is your imagination. :D As soon as they're done, I'll update the chapters with link and let you know about them.

As for this chapter, how did you like it? I meant for the Jak and Keira part to be a lot longer than that, but then I decided that Jak isn't one to just stand around and talk all night, so I kinda hit the fast-forward button. Hope it worked out. ;-) Please review and tell me what you thought! I'm always looking for ways to improve. And believe me, I need to improve. Ha ha. Till next time!

- JATS –

A special thanks to all my reviewers. You guys are great!

:D

**Angel004**

**Farr2rich**

**Mecca-dog**

**Mysterious Prophetess**

**Xazz**

* * *

Also… my reviewers since I've been on hiatus. You guys keep me going when I think I can't go any more, and the ones who motivate me to do more when I think I can't. Without you guys, I might never get anything done. Thanks!!!

**.x.Sorrow's Tear.x.**

**Angel004**

**James Lown**

**PrisonBreakFreak**

And a special thanks to **Farr2rich** for the honest criticism that made me want to rewrite the chapter in the first place. I already have an idea for the start of the next chapter, so hopefully I'll get this done sometime around Thanksgiving. That's my next break! Plus I write a bit every Thursday night, hence the update tonight. Ja ne, minna-san!!


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